HomeMy WebLinkAbouttempfood-facilities-101-pocket-guideline“Food Booths” 101
Temporary Food Facility Basics
This pocket guideline is designed to help you
construct, operate and understand sanitary
practices required to ensure the public enjoys safe
food and beverages and prevent foodborne illness.
1. Permits:
You are required to have a
health permit to sell or give
foods or beverages to the public.
Foods or beverages stored or prepared at your
home are not allowed.
2. Booth Construction:
Your food booth should be
designed to protect the food
and beverage from
contamination. The following
features are required:
a. Overhead Covering – a tent top, such as an EZ Up.
b. Entirely Enclosed – all four sides shall be enclosed,
with the exception of a pass-thru serving window
and entrance/exit way. Mesh screening or clear
plastic/vinyl sheets are recommended. The
entrance/exit way must be closeable.
c. Pass-Thru Window - should only be large enough
to serve your food through, with a flap or screen to
cover the window or opening.
d. Ground Cover – a tarp or wood boards prevents
food and beverage supplies from coming into
contact with the ground.
e. Name – the name of the food booth (minimum 3
inch letters of contrasting color), city, state, zip
code, and name of the operator must be legible and
clearly visible to customers.
f. All food items must be prepared, cooked and
served from inside the food booth (exceptions
are: BBQ/grill or cooking equipment required to be
operated outside by the local fire authority).
3. Hand Washing:
Unclean hands can contaminate your
food. You will need the following items:
a. Warm Water (5 gallons) – an
urn or insulated container
filled with warm water
(100˚ Fahrenheit). The urn
should have a spigot or valve to
allow water to flow freely as you wash and
rinse your hands.
b. Soap Dispenser – bar soap is not allowed
(avoid scented or lotion soaps).
c. Paper Towels – cloth hand towels are not
allowed.
d. Catch Bucket – a bucket or container to catch
the rinsed waste water from your hands.
Use a stand or table – the water urn or
container should be placed high enough to
allow for proper hand washing and collection of
rinse water.
The hand wash station should be placed in an
unobstructed area that is easy to access and
use at all times.
Wash your hands after: touching your face,
handling money, using the restroom,
smoking, removing garbage, and/or whenever
you start preparing a different food item.
4. Dish and Utensil Washing:
Proper washing and
sanitizing of dirty pots,
dishes, and utensils is
important in preventing
the transfer of germs to food. The following
items and order are required for proper
washing and sanitizing:
a. Wash with Hot Soapy Water – fill a bucket or
container that can hold your largest
pot/dish/utensil with hot soapy water. It’s best
to remove any food particles or grease from
the dirty pot/dish/utensil before washing.
b. Rinse With Fresh Clean Water – fill a bucket or
container with fresh clean water to rinse off the
soap from the washed pot/dish/utensil. It is
important to remove the soap before sanitizing.
c. Sanitize – fill a bucket or container with a
chemical sanitizing solution. Chlorine bleach is
a common sanitizer (use 1 tablespoon for
each gallon of water).
d. Air Dry – after sanitizing the pot/dish/utensil, let
it completely air dry to allow the full effects of
the sanitizer to take place (having extra
pots/dishes/utensils are recommended).
You will need at least 25 gallons of water for
your washing system.
Utensil washing system is not required if
only prepackaged/canned/bottled
foods are sold.
5. Cooking and Hot Storage:
Serving undercooked or hot foods not
held at the proper temperature
can lead to a foodborne
illness. You will need a
probe thermometer (with a
0˚ to 220˚ Fahrenheit range)
to ensure the temperatures
for the following food items
are reached during their cooking process:
1. Hamburgers and other ground
beef foods - cook to 155˚
Fahrenheit.
2. Poultry (single piece or ground) –
cook to 165˚ Fahrenheit.
3. Single pieces of meat and fish –
cook to 145˚ Fahrenheit.
Hot food items must be held at 135˚
Fahrenheit. The following are several
methods to maintain proper hot holding
temperatures (turn on your heating units
before placing the cooked foods in them):
a. Chafing dishes
b. Cooking grill
c. Stove top or camp stove
d. Crock pots or similar self
contained heating units
e. Steam tables
f. Warming ovens
Check hot holding temperatures every 30
minutes.
Keep foods covered and stir frequently.
Discard all left over cooked or ready to eat
foods at the end of the day.
6. Cooling and Cold Storage:
Maintain all perishable foods (potentially
hazardous foods, aka “PHF”) at or below
45˚ Fahrenheit. Examples of perishable
foods or PHF are: raw or cooked
meats, foods with egg products,
or foods with milk products.
Other PHF foods include:
cut melons, bean sprouts,
garlic/fresh herbs in oils, and
cooked rice. Even spinach and lettuce are a
concern if not properly maintained.
Contact your local health department if you are
unsure if the foods you plan to prepare and serve
are considered a PHF/perishable.
Ice may be used for cold storage of perishable
foods if the event is for one day; mechanical
refrigeration is required if perishable foods are to be
kept and used for more than one day.
7. Reheating Foods:
Reheat all food items rapidly to 165˚ Fahrenheit.
Do not use chafing dishes, crock pots, steam
tables, or similar devices for heating up foods. It is
recommended that a stove or microwave oven be
used to rapidly re-heat foods.
8. Food Handling:
Never handle/touch any food without
washing your hands. To handle a
ready-to-serve food item, use of the
following is recommended:
a. Disposable gloves
b. Serving tongs or other serving utensils
c. Napkins or food tissue paper
d. Use squeeze bottles, containers with hinged
lids, and/or individual packets for self-serve
condiments
9. Sanitizing Work Surfaces:
To prevent cross contamination and
discourage flies, sanitize work surfaces
with wiping cloths in a bucket or
container of a sanitizing solution
(1 tablespoon of bleach to 1 gallon of
clean water). Allow all surfaces to
completely dry before using. Change the sanitizing
solution every 2 hours or sooner if the water
becomes cloudy.
10. Employees/Workers:
All employees/workers who prepare and/or serve
food must be in good health. Any person with
symptoms of: cramps, nausea, fever, vomiting,
diarrhea, jaundice, etc., or have open sores or
infected cuts on their hands should not be allowed
in the food booth.
All employees/workers shall
wear clean outer garments.
To prevent cross contamination
of foods and reduce the risk of food
poisoning, assign employees/workers
different tasks such as: handling money,
preparing ready to eat foods, preparing raw
meats.
Smoking is not allowed in the food booth or
any outer cooking areas.
A person in charge (PIC) must always be
present at all times. This person is
responsible for all operations of the food booth
and ensures all employees/workers are
following these guidelines.
11. Waste Disposal:
Place all garbage and wastes in a refuse
container with a tight fitting lid. Remove all
wastes at the end of the event or
as necessary and dispose
of in a proper manner (i.e.
garbage bins or receptacles).
All waste water from your
dish/utensil wash containers/buckets and
hand wash catch bucket must be disposed
in an approved sewer system (i.e. sink
connected to the sewer system) or waste
water collection tank (provided by the event
organizer). It is illegal to pour waste water
into storm drains or onto the ground.
12. Insect Control:
Flies and insects can carry or transmit
foodborne diseases. Cover all food
items to reduce this possibility.
If traps are used for insect control (i.e.
flies or yellow jackets), be sure to
place them away from your food
booth (consult the
directions for proper distance).
The traps have a scent
(pheromone) that will attract the
insects to its location.
13. Food Transportation:
Keep prepared foods covered and maintain
proper food holding temperatures. Use
insulated or warming containers to keep hot
food items at or above 135˚ Fahrenheit. Use
ice chests or refrigerated trucks to maintain
cold food items at or below 45˚ Fahrenheit.
14. Ice:
Ice used to cool beverage
containers or to keep perishable
foods cold may not be used for
consumption. Keep ice for
consumption in a marked separate
container/ice chest. Always use ice from an
approved source and use a scoop to dispense
ice.
15. Water:
Contact the event organizer to check
if fresh clean (potable) water is
available at the event site. You may
need to bring your own fresh clean
water if none is available (5 gals-hand
washing/25 gals-dish/pot/utensil
washing).
If well water is available, be sure to check to
see if the well is safe to drink from.
16. Restrooms:
At least one toilet and hand
washing facility for each 15
employees shall be provided
within 200 feet of each food
booth.
Compliments of
Alameda County
Department of Environmental Health
1131 Harbor Bay Pkwy
Alameda CA 94502
(510)567-6700
http://www.acgov.org/aceh/food/temp.htm
When In Doubt
Toss It Out!
WongWay Productions 1/08/09