Jump to content

  • Quick Navigation
Photo

Defrost Labels for Catering

Share this

  • You cannot start a new topic
  • Please log in to reply
4 replies to this topic

Brent C

    Grade - Active

  • IFSQN Active
  • 11 posts
  • 1 thanks
0
Neutral

  • United Kingdom
    United Kingdom

Posted 12 November 2019 - 10:41 AM

Hi all, 

 

I have been asked to look into some EHO reports for some catering company's.

 

The one issue that keeps coming up is labels, no surprise there.

 

The issue was: When a raw material comes out of a freezer they don't put a defrost label on.

 

I have looked around and I can find anything around defrost labels for catering. 

 

So my question is, would you have a defrost label on the raw material that is being defrosted, and would you put the defrost label over the suppliers Best Before Date?

 

Thanks 

 

Brent Crouch  



Jeffrey Ort

    Grade - MIFSQN

  • IFSQN Member
  • 54 posts
  • 14 thanks
8
Neutral

  • United States
    United States

Posted 13 November 2019 - 12:50 PM

I have been involved in this at past positions. Our practice was to apply a label that included a date of defrost and a use by date. It can either based on material best quality or last expected day of use.



FurFarmandFork

    Food Safety Consultant, Production Supervisor

  • IFSQN Fellow
  • 1,264 posts
  • 590 thanks
206
Excellent

  • United States
    United States
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Oregon, USA

Posted 13 November 2019 - 05:20 PM

Seems like a good idea. How much info do you need to keep track of? Just the date of defrost? Labelmakers abound and are your friends, or if everything has <1week shelf life after defrost, you can designate a colored sticker for every day of the week and skip having to generate a dated label.


Austin Bouck
Owner/Consultant at Fur, Farm, and Fork.
Consulting for companies needing effective, lean food safety systems and solutions.

Subscribe to the blog at furfarmandfork.com for food safety research, insights, and analysis.

majoy

    Grade - MIFSQN

  • IFSQN Member
  • 243 posts
  • 92 thanks
63
Excellent

  • Canada
    Canada
  • Gender:Female

Posted 13 November 2019 - 05:22 PM

in my experience in catering, there is always an intenal policy on thawing which helps minimize the confusion. Usually thawing is max 3 days/72 hours and a defrost label is place on the material. This way materials are only brought out of the freezer when its needed. It is a night mare to monitor thawing + best before date by a production employee.


"Whatever you do, do it well..." - Walt Disney


Brent C

    Grade - Active

  • IFSQN Active
  • 11 posts
  • 1 thanks
0
Neutral

  • United Kingdom
    United Kingdom

Posted 14 November 2019 - 09:58 AM

Hi, 

 

Thanks for your posts. 

I have spoken to the EHO and they said the below:

 

If you defrost a particular item of food, the manufacturer’s instructions should always be followed. If it is something made by yourselves then you need to have a system place to ensure whatever it is, is defrosted, day doted ( or  labelled with date of defrost/and or use by).

The same would apply to best before products. This needs to be a system that all chefs are aware of when defrosting products. You also need to then decide on that products shelf life. Again I would re iterate that its best to follow the manufacturers guidance. 

 

so, would you put the defrost label over the best before date or not?





Share this

1 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users