Receiving and Storing Food Safely

Unsafe food is much easier to stop at the back door than it is to find on a plate. A delivery driver may be in a hurry, but once you sign for a case of warm chicken, the problem belongs to your kitchen. After that, the same care goes into storage: food has to stay cold, stay covered and get used while it's still safe.

The figures here come from the FDA Food Code, using the 2026 edition. The Food Code is a model. Your state or local code is the law where you work, and your employer may have stricter rules.

What You Will Be Able to Do

• Check a delivery for temperature, condition and paperwork.
• Decide when to accept, reject or set aside a product.
• Rotate stock with FIFO and FEFO.
• Date-mark ready-to-eat food and know when to discard it.
• Store dry goods, chemicals and cold foods correctly.

Before the Truck Arrives

Good receiving starts with a plan.

1. Buy only from approved, reputable suppliers. Food from a home kitchen or a neighbor's catch usually isn't allowed.
2. Schedule deliveries for a time when trained staff can check them.
3. Have a clean thermometer, your invoice or purchase order, and a clear spot to work.
4. Keep cooler and freezer space ready, so that food isn't left waiting on the dock.

Checking a Delivery

Check cold and frozen foods first, and move them into storage as soon as you've inspected them.

To check temperature, insert a clean probe into the center of meat and poultry. For packaged food, you can place the probe between two packages without breaking them. Fold the packages around the probe, then read it after it settles. For cases of frozen food, look for clues rather than poking holes.

Signs That Food Was Temperature Abused

Food must arrive free of signs of earlier temperature abuse. Reject frozen food that shows any of these:

• Large ice crystals or frost on the food or inside the package
• Liquid or frozen liquid at the bottom of the case
• Water stains on the carton
• Food that has thawed and refrozen into one solid block

Fresh Fish, Meat, and Poultry

Meat and poultry must come from inspected sources. Look for the USDA inspection mark, or the mark from a state program that meets the federal standard.

Shellfish

Molluscan shellfish, such as oysters, clams and mussels, must arrive with an identification tag or label. The tag shows who harvested the shellfish, along with the date and location of the harvest.

• Reject shellfish without tags.
• Keep tags with the product until it's all used.
• Keep tags on file for 90 calendar days after the last shellfish from that container is sold or served.
• File tags in date order, so that a health investigator can trace an outbreak.

Reject live shellfish that are muddy or have broken shells. Do not accept any that are open and don't close when tapped.

Rejecting a Delivery

If something fails your check:

1. Set the item apart from the accepted food. Do not put it in your cooler with accepted food.
2. Tell the driver what is wrong and show them.
3. Write the problem on the invoice, and record the item, the quantity and the reason. Get the driver's signature if your workplace needs one.
4. Tell your manager or the person in charge.
5. Contact the supplier if your process requires it.

Check counts and items against the order before signing. Your signature often means you accept what's on the invoice.

Rotating Stock

FIFO stands for First In, First Out. Older stock gets used before newer stock.

1. Write the date received on each item or case.
2. Put new stock behind older stock.
3. Pull from the front.
4. Check dates during your daily walk-through.

FEFO stands for First Expired, First Out. If items have use-by dates that don't match the order they arrived in, use the earliest date first.

Date Marking

Date marking is how a kitchen keeps track of how long ready-to-eat food has been open or prepared.

Under the Food Code, refrigerated, ready-to-eat TCS food that's prepared on site and kept for more than 24 hours must be marked with the date or day by which it has to be eaten, sold or thrown out. The limit is 7 days at 41°F (5°C) or below. The day it was prepared counts as Day 1.

Worked example. You make chicken salad on Monday, June 1. Monday is Day 1, so it must be used or thrown out by the end of Sunday, June 7.

The same rule applies to a commercial product once it's opened, such as a tub of deli salad held for more than 24 hours. The manufacturer's use-by date can shorten that time. It can't extend it.

If you combine ingredients, the date of the oldest ingredient usually sets the discard date. Food in a container with no date, or with a date that has passed, must be thrown out. Freezing can pause the clock, but only if your procedure allows and you mark it clearly.

Your code may have exceptions, such as for certain hard cheeses and cured meats. It may also shorten the 7-day limit for food held above 41°F.

Storing Cold Food

• Keep the cooler at a temperature that keeps food at 41°F or below. Put a thermometer in the warmest part, usually near the door.
• Don't overload it. Air must move around the food.
• Cover food, keep raw food below ready-to-eat food, and put poultry on the bottom.
• Keep doors closed as much as you can.
• Record temperatures on your schedule.

Storing Dry Food

• Keep it cool, dry and off the floor, at least 6 inches up.
• Use labeled, food-grade containers with tight lids once a package is open.
• Label any food taken out of its original container with the common name of the food, unless nobody could mistake it.
• Keep it away from walls and sweating pipes. Overhead water or sewer lines are a contamination risk.
• Inspect regularly for pest signs.

Never store food in a restroom, a locker room, a mechanical room or under an open stairway. Never use a chemical container to hold food.

Storing Chemicals and Non-Food Items

• Store cleaning chemicals, pesticides and first aid items apart from food, below it and away from prep areas.
• Keep chemicals in their original labeled containers. Label any working bottle, such as a spray bottle, with what's in it.
• Keep personal medicines away from food and in a closed, labeled container, as your workplace requires.

Common Mistakes

Check Your Understanding

1. A case of fresh chicken arrives, and your probe reads 48°F. The driver says it was just a warm truck. What do you do?

Reject it. Cold TCS food has to arrive at 41°F or below. Note it on the invoice and tell your manager.

2. A box of frozen shrimp has a lot of frost inside, and the bottom of the carton is stained. Is it acceptable?

No. Those are signs that it thawed and refroze, so it has been exposed to unsafe temperatures. Reject it.

3. You open a container of store-bought coleslaw on Thursday and plan to serve it over several days. What is the latest day you can use it, assuming the package date is later?

Mark it for 7 days, counting Thursday as Day 1. It must be used or thrown out by the end of the following Wednesday.

4. The last oyster in a sack was served on March 1. When can you throw out the tag?

After 90 calendar days, which is around May 30. Check your calendar for the exact date.

Key Takeaways

• Check deliveries before you sign. Cold first, then frozen, then everything else.
• Cold TCS food should arrive at 41°F or below, except where a specific law sets another limit.
• Reject food that shows signs of temperature abuse, damage, pests or missing shellfish tags.
• Keep shellfish tags for 90 days after the last item from that container is served.
• Use FIFO and FEFO, and date-mark ready-to-eat food for up to 7 days with the day of prep as Day 1.
• Store food covered and at least 6 inches off the floor, with chemicals kept well away from it.