Food Safety Checklist
Daily food-safety routine a kitchen manager runs to keep a full-service or fast-casual restaurant aligned with the FDA Food Code and state health-department expectations. Covers cold-holding logs, receiving, prep, cooking and cooling, sanitation, hygiene, and pest control.
Cold Storage Temperature Logs
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Log walk-in cooler temperature
Read the walk-in's calibrated thermometer and confirm 41°F or below. If the reading drifts during the shift, log the time and corrective action — health inspectors will ask for a written log going back at least 30 days.
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Log reach-in, low-boy, and freezer readings
Each reach-in and low-boy gets its own row on the temp log. Freezers should hold 0°F or below. Note the unit ID and time so a missed unit shows up clearly the next day.
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Pull product from any out-of-range unit
If a unit reads above 41°F, move TCS product to a working unit immediately and apply the 4-hour rule from the time the unit went out of range. Tag the unit out-of-service and open a maintenance ticket; do not put product back until the unit holds 41°F for two consecutive readings.
Receiving and Date-Marking
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Inspect deliveries against the invoice
Count cases against the Sysco/USF/PFG invoice before signing. Reject damaged packaging, swollen cans, broken seals, and frost-burned frozen product at the door — once it's signed for, the credit fight gets harder.
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Probe-temp incoming cold and frozen items
Cold deliveries should arrive at 41°F or below; frozen at 0°F or below. Probe one case per item per drop with a sanitized thermometer. Reject and note on the BOL if a load arrives warm.
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Date-mark TCS items with 7-day use-by
Ready-to-eat TCS items held more than 24 hours need a use-by date counting day of prep/open as day 1, total 7 days at 41°F or below. Use the printed day-dot label, not a Sharpie scrawl — inspectors look for legibility.
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Rotate stock FIFO in the walk-in
New product goes behind older product on every shelf. Walk the shelves after the drop is put away — newer cases shoved in front of older ones is the most common cause of expired product on the line.
Prep and Cross-Contamination Control
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Set up color-coded boards by protein
Red for raw beef, yellow for raw poultry, blue for seafood, green for produce, white for cooked or RTE. A line cook reaching for the wrong board is the most common cross-contamination root cause; the colors exist to make the mistake visible.
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Stage dedicated allergen prep tools
Purple-handled allergen kit: dedicated cutting board, tongs, sauté pan, and gloves. Allergen tickets fire to a clean station with a fresh fryer basket — shared fryer oil is a common anaphylaxis vector and a civil-liability headline.
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Test sanitizer bucket concentration
Quat sanitizer 200-400 ppm or chlorine 50-100 ppm depending on what the kitchen uses. Test with a fresh strip — strips that have been on the shelf in humidity for a year read low. Replace the bucket every 2-4 hours during service.
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Confirm no bare-hand contact with RTE food
Gloves, tongs, deli paper, or single-use utensils for any ready-to-eat item — garnish, bread, salad, sandwich assembly. Watch garnish station and pantry; that's where bare hands sneak in during a rush.
Cooking, Cooling, and Hot-Holding
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Verify cook temps with a calibrated thermometer
Poultry 165°F, ground meats 155°F, whole-muscle beef and seafood 145°F for 15 seconds. Calibrate the probe in ice water (32°F) at start of shift; thermometers drift and a 5°F-low probe means undercooked chicken plated at 160°F.
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Log batch cooling times
Cooked TCS food: 140°F to 70°F within 2 hours, then 70°F to 41°F within the next 4 hours. Shallow pans, ice baths, and ice paddles get there; a 6-quart Cambro of stock in the walk-in does not. Attach today's cooling log — this is the documentation an inspector asks for first.
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Confirm hot-holding above 140°F
Soup wells, steam tables, heat lamps — probe each well at the start of service and again every two hours. Stir before reading; surface temps run higher than the middle of the pan. Anything below 140°F at a 2-hour check goes back to a pot, reheated to 165°F, and only then returns to the well.
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Discard product held past the 4-hour rule
TCS food held in the danger zone (41-140°F) more than 4 cumulative hours is discarded — no exceptions. Mark the time-out on the prep label so a fresh-eyed cook can tell at a glance whether the pan is still safe.
Sanitation and Warewashing
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Test the three-bay sink sanitizer
Wash bay above 110°F with detergent, rinse bay clear, sanitize bay at the chemical's labeled concentration. Test the third bay with a strip and post the reading on the wall log.
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Verify dish machine final-rinse temperature
High-temp machines need 180°F at the manifold (160°F at the dish surface) — use a thermolabel or max-registering thermometer. Low-temp chemical-sanitizing machines need a chlorine reading at the manifold per spec. A failing dish machine on a Friday night will still wash dishes; only the test catches it.
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Wipe and sanitize all prep surfaces
Hot-hold a clean cloth in the sanitizer bucket between each task — not a wad on the counter going dry. Pay attention to can-opener blades, slicer parts, and the underside of the prep table; those are the surfaces inspectors swab.
Personal Hygiene and Allergen Awareness
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Confirm an allergen-aware manager on shift
States including MA, IL, MI, NY, and RI require at least one ServSafe Allergens or AllerTrain-certified manager per shift, with the certificate posted. Inspectors check the certificate, not just verbal claims — bring up a copy in the office binder if it's not already on the wall.
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Inspect uniforms, hair restraints, and gloves
Clean apron, hair tied back or hatted, beard nets where required, no jewelry below the wrist except a plain band. Cuts and burns covered with a finger cot under a glove. Send anyone showing symptoms of GI illness home — Big 6 pathogen exclusion is non-negotiable.
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Brief the line on 86s and allergen flags
10-minute pre-shift huddle: today's 86s, allergen-flagged menu items, large parties with noted allergies, and the substitution paths the kitchen will use. The expediter calls allergen tickets clearly so the line resets the station before firing.
Pest Control and Facility Walk
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Walk dry storage and dock for pest evidence
Look for droppings along baseboards, gnaw marks on cardboard, grease trails behind equipment, and live activity around the dock and dumpster pad. Glue boards under prep tables tell the overnight story; check them before the line breaks them.
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Review the pest-control service log
Confirm last service date is within contract cadence and the technician's report notes any concerns from the prior visit. Inspectors ask for the binder — having it filed and dated is half the citation defense.
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Open a work order with the pest vendor
Call the contracted vendor for an unscheduled visit when evidence appears between routine services. Document where the activity was found and what was discarded so the technician's treatment plan addresses the actual harborage, not a generic perimeter spray.
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