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Correct food storage will assist in the prevention of spoilage and/or poisoning.

Reusable by-products
When preparing foods for service or to accommodate recipes, there will often be leftover product.
You might purchase restaurant cuts from a butcher (supplier), however, in some cases, kitchen staff
will be responsible for cleaning, trimming and preparing both first and second cuts ready for use. This
might involve boning birds, trimming excess fat and connective tissues, rolling or trussing birds or the
cuts from the birds, and cutting product into suitable portion sizes. Ensure that meats are properly
handled, waste is managed properly and that prepared meats are stored on clean, covered trays in
the cold room, until they are used.
Trimmings or offcuts, bones etc. can be used to make stocks, sauces or soups. Good quality, fresh
stocks form the base of good quality sauces and soups.

Good quality meat trimmings or offcuts can be diced to make stews or kebabs, or minced to make
pasta sauces, meat patties, meat loaf etc.

Unusable trimmings-lymph nodes and blood vessels are waste and should be disposed of.
By-products should be stored (covered, on trays), provided they have not been out at room
temperature for more than two hours, in the cold room or frozen (wrapped, labelled and sealed).
Product that has previously been frozen must not be refrozen.

Take extra care with leftovers or by-products because double handling (the initial cleaning plus
further handling when making a product) can make the meat more susceptible to food poisoning
bacteria-sausages, minced meats etc. should be thoroughly cooked.

Cutting, cleaning and portioning of products must be performed according to organisational
requirements so that the amount of leftover product is minimised.

General rules:
• all perishable food should be covered and placed on shelves in the cool room

• separate different food groups in order to prevent contamination
• cooked foods should always be shelved above raw foods

• ensure that cooked foods and raw foods do not come into contact with each other
• hot foods (e.g. pots of pastry fillings) should be covered and put into the cool room for quick
cooling down; large quantities should be divided into small containers in order to make
chilling more effective
• cold foods and cooked products that have cooled properly should be covered, labelled and
stored appropriately in the cold room
• any frozen foods which have been thawed should be covered and refrigerated (not refrozen)

• unused dairy foods (milk, butter, etc.) which have been used for service or held at room
temperature for a period of time should be thrown out

• store meats, vegetables, dairy foods separately
• store dry goods in sealed, clearly labelled airtight containers, making sure that they have not
been contaminated or tainted-check use-by dates as rancid flours, for instance, cannot be
used to make quality products
• any contaminated foods should be disposed of

• all foods should be stored on clean trays or in clean bowls, buckets