11.2 Produce, Eggs, Ice, and Other Prep Controls
Key Takeaways
- Wash produce under running water before cutting; do not rewash packaged ready-to-eat produce labeled as washed unless the manufacturer directs it.
- Cut leafy greens, cut tomatoes, and cut melons become TCS food and must be held at 41°F or below.
- Ice is a food: make it from potable water, keep the machine clean, store scoops outside the bin on a clean surface, and never scoop with a glass.
- Cook pooled eggs immediately or hold them at 41°F; use pasteurized eggs for highly susceptible populations and for dishes that will not be fully cooked.
- Use only approved additives — never apply sulfites to restaurant produce — and taste with a clean utensil used once.
Preparation is where whole, intact products become ready-to-eat pieces. Cutting a melon, pooling eggs, making batter, and scooping ice all change the hazard. FDA Food Code Chapter 3 expects the Person in Charge (PIC) to keep those steps from turning a clean ingredient into time/temperature control for safety (TCS) food that sits in the danger zone, or a ready-to-eat food that picked up pathogens from a sink, a scoop, or a sulfite shaker.
This section is the prep table, not the cook line. Chapter 12 owns final cook temperatures. Chapter 8 already said ice is a food and that raw juices must not move onto ready-to-eat product. Here the same ideas become station rules the exam will picture: a bag of prewashed lettuce in a dirty sink, a glass dipped in the ice bin, a pitcher of pooled eggs on the line, and a "keeps the apples white" spray on the salad bar.
Produce: Wash, Then Cut
Wash fruits and vegetables under running water before cutting, combining, or cooking them. Food Code 3-302.15 is the wash rule. Running water lifts soil, insects, and many surface microbes. A sanitizer-bucket soak is not a substitute unless the operation has an approved produce wash used exactly as labeled. Do not wash produce in a warewashing sink full of dirty dishes or in a hand sink.
Do not rewash packaged ready-to-eat produce that is labeled as washed unless the manufacturer directs a wash. Rewashing bagged salad in a dirty prep sink is how you add contamination, not remove it. If the bag is intact, labeled washed, and stored at 41°F, open it and use it.
Whole, intact produce is generally not TCS. Cut leafy greens, cut tomatoes, and cut melons become TCS food. After the knife goes through, hold them at 41°F or below, date-mark them when they are ready-to-eat TCS held more than 24 hours, and treat them like any other cold TCS item. A sliced watermelon pan on a room-temperature buffet is a classic exam picture. The whole melon on the rack was not TCS. The cut melon is.
Wash whole produce before cutting so the knife does not drag rind soil into the flesh. Clean and sanitize the sink, board, and knife between raw animal food and produce. Do not store cut produce in standing tap water as a "crispness" trick unless a later ice-as-ingredient or approved procedure is actually in use and the water itself is a controlled food.
Cut Produce as TCS Food
| Item after cutting | TCS? | Cold-hold limit |
|---|---|---|
| Whole head of lettuce, intact tomato, whole melon | Generally no | Ordinary produce storage; protect from contamination |
| Cut leafy greens | Yes | 41°F or below |
| Cut tomatoes | Yes | 41°F or below |
| Cut melons | Yes | 41°F or below |
| Packaged ready-to-eat salad labeled washed | Ready-to-eat; hold cold per label and TCS rules if cut | Do not rewash unless the manufacturer says to |
The TCS change is the exam point. Cutting increases available moisture and surface area. Salmonella, STEC, Listeria, and norovirus that were on the rind or the knife now sit in a ready-to-eat food that will not see another kill step if it is served raw.
Ice Is a Food
Ice is not a utility. Ice is a food. Make it from potable water in a clean ice machine. Clean and sanitize the machine on a schedule. Protect the bin from splash, dripping raw product, and bottles shoved into the ice to chill.
Store scoops outside the bin on a clean, protected surface — a clean holder or a clean pan, not handle-down in the ice. Never scoop ice with a glass. A glass can chip into the bin (physical hazard) and the rim that touched a guest's mouth can contaminate the ice (biological hazard). Ice that was used as a coolant for raw food — a pan of chicken nested in ice, a seafood display — is not drink ice. Food Code 3-303.11 and 3-303.12 keep exterior-coolant ice out of food and drinks. Dump that ice. Do not shovel it into the soda station.
Chapter 8 already said ice is a food. This section is the prep-station version: the machine, the scoop, the glass, and the leftover ice that cooled raw chicken.
Eggs: Pooling, Temperature, and Pasteurized Product
Pooled eggs are eggs cracked into a common container. Once pooled, they are TCS. Cook them immediately or store the pool at 41°F or below and cook them the same day under the operation's time/temperature system. A pitcher of pooled eggs on the cook line at room temperature is an exam fail.
Use pasteurized eggs for:
- Highly susceptible populations (nursing homes, hospitals, day care, adult-care facilities) whenever eggs will not be cooked to the full legal temperature, and in many of those operations as the default for egg dishes.
- Dishes that will not be fully cooked: Caesar dressing, hollandaise, béarnaise, tiramisu, eggnog, mayonnaise made in house.
Raw shell eggs for immediate service can be cooked to 145°F for 15 seconds. Pooled eggs that are not for immediate service follow the comminuted/pooled rule in Chapter 12 (155°F for 17 seconds). Do not invent a "raw egg is fine if we put a consumer advisory on the specials board" exception for highly susceptible populations. Consumer advisories do not replace pasteurized eggs in those operations.
Batter, Breading, and Reused Prep Batches
Batter and breading pick up raw-animal juices and sit in the danger zone. Controls:
- Make small batches.
- Keep batter cold — 41°F or below — when it is TCS.
- Do not combine old batter with a new batch.
- Discard leftover batter or breading after service, or follow a written time/temperature procedure that the PIC can show. Overnight breading "to save money" is how Salmonella and Bacillus cereus ride into tomorrow's fryer.
Assign separate breading stations when raw fish, raw chicken, and ready-to-eat items share a kitchen. Change utensils and wash hands when the protein changes.
Additives: Approved Only, Never Sulfites on Produce
Only approved food additives, used at approved levels, may be added. Food Code 3-302.14 is the usual citation. A restaurant food employee may not apply sulfiting agents to fresh fruits and vegetables intended for raw consumption, or to foods that are a good source of vitamin B1. The exam version is blunt: do not put sulfites on salad-bar produce or cut fruit in a restaurant. People with sulfite sensitivity can have asthma-level reactions. "It keeps the apples white" is not a defense.
Do not add home remedies, unapproved "crispness" chemicals, or leftover cleaning chemicals anywhere near food. Color additives follow the same approved-only rule.
Tasting: One Clean Utensil, One Use
Food Code 3-301.12 is the tasting rule. Taste with a clean utensil. Use it once. Do not lick a spoon and put it back in the pan. Do not taste from a gloved hand and keep working. Take a sample into a clean dish, taste it away from the batch, and send the utensil to warewashing.
Prep Item / Control Table
| Prep item | Required control | Exam fail |
|---|---|---|
| Whole produce | Wash under running water before cutting | Soak in a dirty sink; skip the wash and cut through soil |
| Packaged ready-to-eat produce labeled washed | Do not rewash unless the manufacturer says to | Dump bagged salad into a prep sink "to be safe" |
| Cut leafy greens, cut tomatoes, cut melons | Treat as TCS; hold at 41°F or below | Cut melon at room temperature on the buffet |
| Ice | Potable water, clean machine, scoop stored outside the bin | Scoop with a glass; drink ice that cooled raw chicken |
| Pooled eggs | Cook immediately or hold at 41°F; same-day use | Room-temperature pitcher on the line all morning |
| Highly susceptible populations / uncooked egg dishes | Pasteurized eggs (Caesar, hollandaise, tiramisu) | Raw shell eggs in a nursing-home Caesar |
| Batter / breading | Small batches; cold hold; discard after service | Overnight reused chicken breading |
| Additives | Approved only; no sulfites on raw produce | Sulfite spray on salad-bar lettuce |
| Tasting | Clean utensil, one use | Licked spoon back in the soup |
Prep is where intact food becomes TCS food. Wash produce under running water, leave prewashed ready-to-eat bags alone, keep cut melon and cut greens at 41°F, treat ice as food, control pooled eggs and pasteurized-egg dishes, discard abused batter, never sulfite restaurant produce, and taste once with a clean utensil.
A cook is prepping whole, unwashed heads of romaine. What is the required produce control before cutting?
Which statement about ice used in a food establishment is correct?
A restaurant will make Caesar dressing with raw eggs for a nursing-home banquet. What is the correct egg control?