Receiving Food Safely

It isn't particularly hard, and there are no new bells and whistles to help do it better. Like most other things in a f/s environment, it's a balancing act that requires knowledge, procedures and professionalism.

Receiving food safely isn't hard to do "if you have good controls in place," says Debbie Hanchett, regl. dir. of operations for HDS Services in Farmington Hills, MI. "Basically, you should have an established HACCP program in place, which we do in all of our units of operation."

Out on the loading dock, she explains, "one of the first things you're going to be looking for is whether the food has been purchased from an approved source. That's a pretty basic thing, and it's number one. You also are going to be looking at the products that are coming out of the trucks and being received. Is there any visible damage? You would also do temperature control checks on receipt of refrigerated and frozen items and question and answer checks to see if food is actually being held at the proper temperatures. If we're receiving refrigerated or frozen products we want to see that the truck actually had the capabilities of being a refrigerated unit. Some purveyors don't have that availability."

Nothing new: "If you're looking for something new, that people haven't heard of before, there's really nothing new out there," says Tom Huge, a principal in ASI Food Safety Consultants Inc. based in St. Louis.

"When it comes to receiving food safely," he says, "you have to inspect every incoming good, whether it's tissue paper, charcoal or cheese. And if you find something in the product, or in or on the trailer upon inspection, our advice is to reject the entire shipment."

Huge and his staff are quite adamant about rejecting sub-par shipments Most trailers will carry 22 palettes, unless they are double-stacked, which is rare. ASI's standard recommendation is that employees inspect one at the tail of the trailer thoroughly, another palette in the middle of the trailer, and a third at the vehicle's head. All three should be torn down and searched in detail before accepting the shipment.

Check for odor: An interesting wrinkle that few in this end of the business think much about is odor. Many carriers will transport other types of items—tires from Akron, OH, for example—together with flour, produce, meat, seafood and other food stuffs.

"You open up the back of the trailer, particularly on a warm day, and the rubber smell from the tires is not overwhelming but it's strong," says Huge, "and who knows if it's gotten into the food." If flour bags, for example, are poly wrapped on the inside they're probably fine. But if they aren't, that smell may well have gotten into it. The same goes for any food that is soft packed (not inside a can or bottle). Then comes the judgment call and possible rejection, something not many people are comfortable doing. "But you don't want to take the chance of letting something into your warehouse that's contaminated," counters Huge.

The problem arises when f/s employees handle food on the way in, says Huge. "They don't look at anything. They're in a rush to get whatever it is in."

Employees and operators as well need to know that many, and maybe even most, of the pest problems they'll have came along with a shipment. "We know for a fact that when most f/s operations get a cockroach problem, they've received it," notes Huge, "so if they can beef up their receiving at the dock, they'll take in a lot less problems."

Time counts: How long can food be left waiting to be stored? "That's another thing that we always debate," says Huge. "There is nothing in writing by any states that I know of, and I know there's nothing in writing from the feds, to say 'put your food away after 30 minutes.' It's kind of a 'get it into the cooler or freezer as quick as you can' kind of a thing."

As for the issue of quickness versus thoroughness, says Hanchett, "You have to have your standards in place. Your staff has to be properly trained and they need to know that even though they may be under a time constraint, they can't compromise their standards for expediency."

Says Huge, "We go to these places all the time where frozen hamburger patties are sitting out in the parking lot for hours, waiting to be put away. Usually those guys are good about putting dairy items like milk and cheeses away, but people just have a feeling that if it's frozen it can stay out longer."

Interestingly, says Hanchett, it is often not the manager but the delivery people who put pressure on the loading dock personnel to speed through their inspections. "The employees may be the ones who are adamant about it—'Hey, I've got to look at this' versus the purveyor who is delivering it saying, 'C'mon, hurry up, we've got to get going.'"

The balancing act must ultimately tip in favor of caution, she suggests. "You just have to have those standards. If you have a designated person who actually receives the food, you have to make certain that they're very well trained and adhere to the standards at all times."

Operators need also keep in mind that whether or not their people are inspecting shipments, health inspectors are inspecting them. A good inspector will look to see that palettes are looked at thoroughly—complete with temperature-taking—and put away in a timely fashion.

Temperatures: The single most-needed lesson for receiving dock personnel involves temperature checks. At least one staffer should be equipped with a dial thermometer, the kind with the stem on it. When looking over the incoming goods on the trailer, he should place it between two cases. If the indicator goes down to zero, it is probably fine. Even placing a thermometer between fish and ice for 30 seconds can help. If the thermometer reads 50°F instead of 40°F, you know there's something suspicious. Trucks' outside temperature gauges can easily be checked.

"Actually," says Hanchett, "there are some rules that revolve around time and temperature control. Those are out of the FDA. Basically, it's saying that if you're receiving food, and the food is temping above 40°F, you would want to establish, if you possibly could, whether it has been above 40°F for longer than a two-hour period of time. If it has, then you as a receiver may want to refuse that particular item."

Infrared thermometers that can instantly tell the outer temperature are a good addition, but relatively expensive and thus something that might not be in the budget. Less expensive is instructing employees on what to look and smell for when inspecting different kinds of foods.