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Tools and Techniques to Promote Proper Food Cooling in Restaurants
Nicole D Hedeen1, Donald Schaffner2, Laura Green Brown3
1Environmental Health Division, Minnesota Department of Health.
Journal of Environmental Health
|August 18, 2022
Summary
Properly cooling hot foods quickly prevents pathogen growth. New methods like portioning food into shallow containers and using a simple cooling rate equation can help restaurants meet Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines.
Area of Science:
- Food safety science
- Microbial growth dynamics
- Public health regulations
Background:
- Slow cooling of hot foods is a significant factor in pathogen proliferation and restaurant-related foodborne illness outbreaks.
- Existing Food and Drug Administration (FDA) model Food Code guidelines and recommended rapid cooling methods are not consistently implemented by restaurants.
- Restaurants face ongoing challenges in adhering to proper food cooling protocols.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify effective methods for rapid food cooling in restaurant settings.
- To introduce a simplified mathematical method for estimating food cooling rates.
- To enable restaurant operators and health inspectors to proactively identify and address foods at risk of not meeting FDA cooling guidelines.
Main Methods:
- Investigating the impact of food container depth (<3 inches) on cooling rates.
- Evaluating the effectiveness of container ventilation during the cooling process.
- Developing and testing a mathematical equation using two temperature points to estimate cooling time.
Main Results:
- Portioning foods into containers with a depth of less than 3 inches and ventilating them significantly promotes rapid cooling.
- A mathematical equation utilizing two temperature measurements can accurately estimate if food will meet FDA cooling guidelines.
- This estimation method allows for early identification of non-compliant foods, reducing the need for continuous temperature monitoring.
Conclusions:
- Shallow food portions and ventilation are practical strategies for enhancing food cooling efficiency in restaurants.
- The developed mathematical method provides a valuable tool for operators and inspectors to ensure compliance with FDA cooling standards.
- Further research is ongoing to refine the predictive cooling rate method for broader application.
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