I work in a school kitchen. The manager takes frozen lunchmeat out of the freezer and thaws it at room temperature for eighteen hours. I'm not comfortable serving this to kids. Any comments?
2007-05-04 05:46:56 · 7 answers · asked by reindeer dippin 3 in Food & Drink ➔ Other - Food & Drink
As a rule, food should not be at room tempurature for more than 4 hours. The two recommended ways to thaw frozen goods is to either give it a few days in your cooler. Or to run cold water over it, with the length of time this takes being less than four hours. Keeping thawed foods at room temp for 18 hours can cause a large variety of foodborne illness, and children and the elderly are especially at risk.
2007-05-04 09:42:37 · answer #1 · answered by Chris 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You're right. Unless it's a preserved meat like salami, this is asking for major trouble.
Better to freeze in smaller portions so it will thaw faster, or plan ahead and thaw in the fridge. Kids in particular are sensitive to food-borne illness.
2007-05-04 12:51:51 · answer #2 · answered by ringoagain 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Definitely not OK. In our state this would be a health code violation and reportable to the local health department. Didn't the manager get the required public service training? Should be defrosted in a refrigerator.
2007-05-04 12:50:38 · answer #3 · answered by squeezie_1999 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Report it to the health dept. Anonymously if you want to keep your job. That is so many ways of wrong. Your manager obviously never took a HACCP or ServSafe class. Dang! Do something.
2007-05-04 13:15:54 · answer #4 · answered by chefgrille 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yuck! call the Health Department!!! Meats are supposed to be thawed in the fridge!!!
2007-05-04 12:55:06 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Report it immediately.
2007-05-04 13:05:00 · answer #6 · answered by Cheffy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
call the FDA
2007-05-04 12:49:40 · answer #7 · answered by Rich D 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋