Essential Tips for Safely Transporting Food
Many companies, such as grocery stores and restaurants, rely on delivering food without compromising the quality of these products. If you own or manage any type of business that deals with food, you can’t risk people getting sick or being unable to use your products because they’re spoiled or unsafe to eat. Continue reading to discover a few essential tips for safely transporting food that can help preserve your goods until they reach their final destinations.
Always Keep Your Food Cold
Unless you’re explicitly delivering catered meals, you need to ensure the integrity of your food by keeping it chilled at all times. You should preserve cold foods at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below to avoid contamination. The best solution is to use a refrigerated truck or van, but you can use coolers with ice or frozen gel packs for smaller loads.
Don’t Let Your Food Sit Unrefrigerated While Loading
If your products warm up at any point, you risk inviting bacteria and other harmful contaminants that can make them inedible. That can result in a rejected load that costs you valuable resources and money. Always keep your food chilled in refrigerators or freezers until the moment you load them into refrigerated vehicles.
Keep Produce and Meat Separated
Even if you properly chill your food at the correct temperature, you still risk cross-contamination if you don’t separate beef, poultry, seafood, and produce from each other. Make sure you’re securely wrapping meat so that its juices don’t leak out and taint other foods, especially prepared meals and raw fruits and veggies.
Precool Your Storage
Whether you’re using a refrigerated vehicle or a chilled cooler, you need to start lowering the temperature inside well before placing any food in it. If you load products in before the storage area has a chance to cool to the proper temperature, your food can start to warm up before freezing again, leading to significant health risks.
Understanding these essential tips for safely transporting food can help you ensure your meals and ingredients arrive just as fresh as when you loaded them. Furthermore, you can protect your customers and clientele from foodborne illnesses.
