Technical reference
Thawing is a step, and a contamination step. The outside of the food warms while the centre stays frozen, juices run, and food still icy inside may miss its cooking . Raw-served food has no control step, so the controls move back to the supplier, the cut, the cold chain and the board. Law sets few figures here, and most limits below are guidance or your own plan.
Raw meat can carry , Campylobacter and pathogenic , and cooking generally destroys them (). They sit mostly on the surface of an intact cut. Mincing, tenderising, rolling and forming carry them into the centre.
The risk is real at scale. In Japan in 2011, O111 and O157 from raw beef dishes affected 181 people and five died (cited by the NSW Food Authority).
Some fish can form histamine. Cooking doesn't destroy it, which is why how those fish are thawed.
EFSA treats all wild-caught seawater and freshwater fish as at risk of viable parasites if eaten raw or almost raw. Freezing is one control. A mild cook may not make fish safe if bacteria from the kitchen or from handlers have reached it (NSW Food Authority).
Parameters
| Hazards | Growth on the thawed outer layer; raw juices reaching other food; undercooked centres; histamine in some fish; parasites in raw fish |
|---|---|
| The law, Singapore (retail) | Raw meat thaws in a chiller at 0 to 4 °C or by an approved method; label it, to be consumed within 3 days. Raw-eaten fish stays chilled at 0 to 4 °C |
| The law, Malaysia | A thaw method that growth and toxins, with liquid drained; thawed fish near melting ice; no refreezing of food sold frozen at retail |
| The law, Australia | Time at growth temperatures minimised (3.2.2 cl. 7(2)); frozen does not include ; no thawing figure in the Code |
| Codex catering code | Thaw at 4 °C or below; running water up to 21 °C for up to 4 h; microwave only straight into cooking |
| New Zealand template | Fridge, or microwave and use at once, or running cold water in an airtight container, or bench up to 4 h; fully defrosted before cooking |
| Use within, working plans | 2 to 3 days in a chiller; in some plans, the same day after running water |
| Raw minced red meat, New Zealand template | Decontaminate smooth whole cuts first (blanch 30 s, or 60 s bagged, or sear, or approved ); use within 48 h; patties within 24 h or freeze |
| Parasite freezing, EFSA | −15 °C 96 h; −20 °C 24 h; −35 °C 15 h; or cook all parts to 60 °C for 1 min |
| Parasite freezing, FDA Food Code as quoted by IFSA | −20 °C 7 days; −35 °C until solid then −20 °C 24 h; −35 °C until solid then −35 °C 15 h |
| Minced meat, cooking | 75 °C core (); 65 °C 15 min, 70 °C 3 min or 75 °C 30 s (New Zealand template) |
Records that prove it
- Thaw method and date, with start and end times where your plan asks
- Thaw label: food, date thawed, use-by
- Running-water thaw: start and finish time
- Supplier and specification for each raw-served dish
- Freezing record or supplier certificate for raw-served fish
- Doneness requests your plan asks you to log
- Discards, with quantity
Maximum cumulative exposure
FDA guidance written for fish and fishery products, shown here as a worked example of how combine. * See the source's footnotes. Source: , Table A-2.
The 2-hour / 4-hour rule
Total time out of temperature control. Check whether your food law or plan uses this rule, and when its clock starts.
CCP or prerequisite?
That depends on the for your process. The number, if it has one, belongs to your plan.
Law and practice
| Control | Australia | New Zealand | Singapore | Malaysia | In practice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thawing | No method or figure in the Code. Keep time at growth temperatures to a minimum (3.2.2 cl 7(2)). | Fridge, microwave then use at once, cold running water in an airtight container, or bench up to 4 hours (template plan). | Retail raw meat: chiller at 0 to 4 °C or an approved method, label it, use within 3 days (regs 13, 14). | A method that growth and toxins; drain the liquid; thawed fish near melting ice. | Chiller thawing is the usual method, then 2 to 3 days. Running water is commonly capped at 1 to 4 hours, and some plans ban bench thawing. |
Law as read in the authority library between 14 October and 4 November 2026. In practice: food safety programmes read across hotels, clubs, venues, healthcare, manufacturing and airline catering, with no business named. A common practice isn't proof that a is safe or lawful where you are.