When food is being transported to the centre (either by a caterer or a grocery delivery), there must be controls in place to keep foods at safe temperatures.
- Keep hot food hot and cold food cold.
- Centres must verify the temperature of all potentially hazardous foods (e.g. meat, fish and dairy product) after the catering company drops it off.
- Where hot food is delivered below 60 degrees Celsius and cold food is delivered above 4 degrees Celsius and the centre cannot confirm how long the food has been at those temperatures, the food is to be refused.
- If centres are not immediately serving the food when it is delivered, they need to have their hot or cold holding equipment prepared before the caterer arrives (i.e. oven/chaffing dishes preheated and/or available space in the fridge for cold storage).
- Groceries which must remain cold should be placed in a cooler with an ice pack and a thermometer for transport. Groceries that must remain hot should be placed in a unit capable of maintaining the food hot for transport.