Nicole D Hedeen, Donald Schaffner, Laura Green Brown
{"title":"Tools and Techniques to Promote Proper Food Cooling in Restaurants.","authors":"Nicole D Hedeen, Donald Schaffner, Laura Green Brown","doi":"","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Slow cooling of hot foods is a common pathogen proliferation factor contributing to restaurant-related outbreaks. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) model <i>Food Code</i> provides guidelines on the time and temperatures needed for proper cooling and recommends several methods to facilitate rapid food cooling. Restaurants continue to struggle with proper cooling even given these guidelines (Hedeen & Smith, 2020). Research summarized in this guest commentary indicates that portioning foods into containers with a depth of <3 in. and ventilating the containers during the cooling process promote rapid cooling. Restaurant operators and health department inspectors could use these cooling methods to maximize cooling efforts. Additionally, a simple method (using a mathematical equation) could help restaurant operators and inspectors to estimate the cooling rates of foods. This simple method uses only two food temperatures taken at any two points in the cooling process (using the equation [Log(T<sub>1</sub> - T<sub>df</sub>) - Log(T<sub>2</sub> - T<sub>df</sub>)]/δt) to estimate whether the food is expected to meet FDA cooling guidelines. This method allows operators and inspectors to identify foods unlikely to meet FDA guidelines and take corrective actions on those foods without having to monitor food temperatures for the entire cooling process, which typically takes 6 hr. More research is underway to further refine aspects of this method.</p>","PeriodicalId":15713,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Health","volume":"84 7","pages":"8-11"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8000,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9380651/pdf/nihms-1791663.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Environmental Health","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Slow cooling of hot foods is a common pathogen proliferation factor contributing to restaurant-related outbreaks. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) model Food Code provides guidelines on the time and temperatures needed for proper cooling and recommends several methods to facilitate rapid food cooling. Restaurants continue to struggle with proper cooling even given these guidelines (Hedeen & Smith, 2020). Research summarized in this guest commentary indicates that portioning foods into containers with a depth of <3 in. and ventilating the containers during the cooling process promote rapid cooling. Restaurant operators and health department inspectors could use these cooling methods to maximize cooling efforts. Additionally, a simple method (using a mathematical equation) could help restaurant operators and inspectors to estimate the cooling rates of foods. This simple method uses only two food temperatures taken at any two points in the cooling process (using the equation [Log(T1 - Tdf) - Log(T2 - Tdf)]/δt) to estimate whether the food is expected to meet FDA cooling guidelines. This method allows operators and inspectors to identify foods unlikely to meet FDA guidelines and take corrective actions on those foods without having to monitor food temperatures for the entire cooling process, which typically takes 6 hr. More research is underway to further refine aspects of this method.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Environmental Health (JEH) is published 10 times per year by the National Environmental Health Association and keeps readers up-to-date on current issues, new research, useful products and services, and employment opportunities. As the only direct link to the complete spectrum of environmental health topics, the JEH reaches more than 20,000 professionals working to solve problems in areas such as
air quality,
drinking water,
food safety and protection,
hazardous materials/toxic substances management,
institutional environmental health,
occupational safety and health,
terrorism and all-hazards preparedness,
vector control,
wastewater management, and
water pollution control/water quality.