Food safety guide

Handling Food

Storage Temperature & Conditions

Appropriate temperature is especially pertinent to Category 2 – Low Risk Perishable Foods and Category 3 – At Risk Perishable Foods. These foods are at risk for temperature abuse if they are not kept at their proper storage temperatures. Foods that require refrigeration should be kept between 0°C to 4°C and frozen foods at –18°C. Category 1 Non-Perishable Foods are shelf stable and can be just kept at room temperature.

Personnel & Hygiene

Any person (e.g. volunteer, employees, transportation personnel) enter food handling areas are required to properly wash their hands and immediately after contacting contaminated materials. Frequent hand washing is encouraged and volunteers or transportation personnel should wash their hands again:

After eating, smoking, or using the washroom
Handling of any raw meat, poultry, or seafood

A person should not be handling food in the following health conditions:

Experiencing diarrhea, vomiting, persistent coughing, sneezing, fever, sore throat
Suffering from contagious diseases or infections (e.g. Hepatitis A, influenza)
Have an open cut or wound (must be covered with waterproof bandage if handling food)

Gloves should be worn when there needs to be direct contact with foods.

Food Safety & Training

Important decisions are made when someone is handling food and proper training are needed for those involved in main aspects of donating the food such as operating, handling, and distributing of foods.

FOODSAFE is a course recommended for handlers of food. The Food Premises Regulation instructs every operator of a food premise to hold a FOODSAFE certificate or its equivalence. Volunteers, operating employees, and handlers of the food are encouraged to complete at minimum the FOODSAFE Level 1 Program or equivalent. This certificate is valid for five years after the training is successfully completed.

For details, see the FOODSAFE website.

Unaccepted Food

Table 1. Unaccepted Products

Recalled Products	See updated list at www.inspection.gc.ca
Unlabeled Products	No or illegible Best Before/Use By/Expiry Date · Product not identifiable · Unknown ingredients
Unpasteurized Products	Juices, eggs, dairy products, home-canned products
Damaged Goods	Products with damaged packaging or tears Opened, bulged, punctured or leaking containers* Broken safety seals Been exposed to environmental contamination such as fire, flooding, smoke etc. Spill or stains from unknown contaminant Rodent droppings anywhere in/on product Urine stains
Visible mould, significantly bruised, rotten or has off odor	Although some solid foods with mould can be salvaged, they are not permitted for donation due to sensitivity with handling and contamination. Bruising in a large area (mainly produce) degrades quickly and is not ideal for donations.
Mishandled or unsafe foods	Adulterated foods Production of product deviated from food safety protocols Any handling of food has not adhered to standard food safety guidelines Product package has been opened and partially used/consumed
Open buffet food	Food where people served themselves

*See appendix for reference.

Evaluate the Safety of Your Product

If your product doesn’t belong to the unacceptable products listed above, that’s great! Now let’s evaluate the condition of the food to ensure it is definitely safe to be donated. If your business has a Quality Assurance team, they need to give the go-ahead on food safety before donations can be posted to Mesh. Any product that wouldn’t be safe for consumers should not be donated.

Danger Zone

The danger zone is the range between 4°C and 60°C where most bacteria grow the fastest. Time that foods are kept in this temperature range should be avoided or kept as short as possible. Category 2 and 3 Foods (Table 2) should be kept in their proper storage temperature.

Food Categories & Risk

Table 2. Food Categories & Risk

Category	Examples
1 – Non-Perishable Foods	Canned goods, dry products (pasta, bread, sugar, legumes), packaged foods that don’t require refrigeration
2 – Low Risk Perishable Foods	Whole produce – fruits and vegetables (have not been cut or processed)
3 – At Risk Foods Perishable Foods	Meat, seafood, dairy, eggs, & protein alternatives, associated products containing these foods, processed products that require refrigeration
4 – Prepared Foods	Cooked or already prepared foods (restaurants, catering events)

Safety Evaluation

The following figure is a flow chart to help determine whether the safety of the product considered for donation. If after using the flow chart and you’re uncertain about the fit for donation, contact us to help figure this out.

Best before date or sell by date is a more of an indicator of quality than safety. Food generally declines in quality before there is an increased risk food safety. Often freezing products can significantly prolong the life of the product.
As an overall rule, foods should be kept at their proper storage temperatures and not be removed until it is ready for donation.

Table 3. Maximum accepted storage time of products frozen before expiration.

Product Category	Time Past Best Before Date
Product Category	*Room Temperature*	*Refrigerated*	*Frozen*
Fresh Fruit & Vegetables	2-7 days	1-4 Weeks (produce dependent)	1 Year
Fruit or Vegetable Juices (Tetra Pak or Bottled not requiring refrigeration before opening)	1 month (Tetra Pak)	3-6 months (Tetra Pak)	1 Year
Breads	1 Week	2 Week	1 Month
Grains & Cereals	6-12 Months	N/A	N/A
Soups & Stews (Could be in Food Service Package or larger)	< 2 Hours, 1 Year if canned	2-3 Days	3 Months
Meat (Uncooked)	< 2 Hours	3-4 Days	Red meats & whole poultry: 12 Months, poultry pieces: 6 months, ground meat: 2-3 Months, fish 2-6 Months, shellfish 2-4 Months
Meat (Cooked)	< 2 Hours, 1 Year if canned	Fish & shellfish: 1-2 days, others: 3 days	Red meat: 3 Months, whole poultry: 2 Months, food mixture: 3 Months
Deli meat	< 2 Hours, 1 Year if canned	5-7 days	2-3 months
Dairy	< 2 Hours after opening	2 weeks (after opening/reconstituted)	6 months
Combination Foods (contains a mix group of foods)	1 Year if canned	N/A	3 Months
Fats (oils, butter, plant-alternatives)	1 Week	3 Months	6 Months

Traceability & Transportation

Traceability

Record keeping is important in keeping track of products. In case of a recall, the donor is able identify whether the donated products have been affected. Information pertinent to the product for donation should include the following:

Name of Product
Date of Harvest/Manufacturing
Lot Number/Production Code
Quantity Produced
Best Before Date/Expiry Date/Sell By Date
Required Storage Temperature
Ingredient List & potential allergen – if applicable

10 identified major allergens in Canada:

Eggs
Milk
Mustard
Peanuts
Seafood (fish, shellfish)
Sesame
Soy
Sulphites
Tree Nuts (including coconut)
Wheat

Transportation

Food recipients may have the capacity to pick up while others may need the food delivered. This would be coordinated on FoodMesh. Perishable foods should be kept in appropriate temperatures during transportation through mechanical refrigeration or chilled chest coolers.

Always use a clean and sanitary transport vehicle
Food should not be directly in contact with the ground (i.e. where persons may be walking) and need to be in transported in safe, non-absorbent, leak-proof containers.
If temperature-controlled transportation is not available, foods should be labeled “processed immediately” for donation.

Category 3 – High Risk Perishable foods should not be out of proper storage temperature more longer than 2 hours (including transportation, storage, cooling).