...often copied, never duplicated

Food Storage and Labeling

Food storage and labeling are imperative in any industry. In the course of all the things you have to do for the day, you don't want to try and remember when you opened something, and if it's safe to serve your customers!

There are States that require food to be sold in your bar or nightclub, and there are States that don't. Regardless, if you are selling any food at all, it has to be labeled and stored correctly in order to keep you customers safe and your business booming. Also, there is a hierarchy when storing food.

Food storage hierarcy is part of your food storage procedures A chart is provided at this link to help you do this. These procedures are not options! These are mandatory! Once learned, it becomes habit and it will become habit for your staff also. You will feel safe in knowing that all that you serve will be safe.

Also, being Serv-Safe Certified is something that anyone in the food and beverage industry should do. I know there are many States where it is mandatory to have someone on duty at all times that are Certified.

When I started out in business, there was no such thing as this certification, and now it has become a staple in the industry. This is a good thing! Yes, it is one more thing you have to learn, but an education is never wasted. Check out Serv-Safe and sign up for classes as soon as you can if you are not already certified. Their site is full of information, and is easy to understand. And, you can even get certified to teach classes to others and make money.

Ok, enough about Serv Safe. Another item you may be interested in is Restaurants and Insttutions Magazine. This magazine has been around for many years and was one in received for many years. It's full of information, trends, recipes, and more. You can even get a free subscription or you can read on line.

I am in no way affiliated with Serv Safe or R&I Magazine and do not receive any compensation for talking about them. I just thought you would like to know about them.

Now let's talk about labeling. Labeling today makes things simple compared to many years ago. At a glance, you can see on the label when the product was received and how long it is good for. No mistakes. Isn't that great!

By useing labels, it insures that you serv high quality food, that's safe, day in and day out, to all your customers. These labels will tell you about the shelf life of your product. What is a shelf life you might ask?

The shelf life of a product is the time frame, or limit, that is given to food that maximizes the quality of the food along with the safety of the food. Therefore, you are always serving good, and safe food to your customers at all times. Years ago, and maybe some people still do it today, but you shouldn't rely on tasting, touching, or smelling food to decide if the food is out of date, or bad. Basically, past the point of its quality or safety.

By useing labeling procedures in food storage, when the shelf life has expired, according to the label you have attached when it arrived on your premises, you just throw away. Yes, even if it may look good, or smell good, you just throw it away. You do this to prevent the possibility of food borne illness,(something that Serv Safe will teach you) or serving poor quality food. The first thing I will talk about is "Day Dots". An example of one is below.

They are also used on produce when you receive a delivery. However, you may find that with moving product around, and the cold temperature, they labels may come off. I always used a magic marker on the boxes, where possible, to insure correct dating.

As you can see by the picture above, this day dot has "Fri" on it, and they are available for each day of the week. The day indicated represents the day that item will expire based on the shelf life of that product. UNDER CONSTRUCTION