How should a dry storeroom be set up?

  • Keep the storeroom at 50°F to 70°F with about 50–60% humidity. Hang a thermometer there.
  • Shelves at least 6 inches off the floor and a few inches from the walls.
  • Keep it clean, dry, well lit and pest-proof, with no leaking pipes overhead.
  • Opened bulk items (flour, sugar, rice) go in sealed, labeled, food-grade containers.
  • Scoops have handles and are stored outside the food.

Sources: Food Code 3-305.11 · Source protocols: dry storage

How does FIFO work, step by step?

  1. Check the date on everything that comes in.
  2. Label anything without a clear date with the item and the date received, made or opened.
  3. At every delivery, move older stock to the front and put new stock behind it.
  4. Always use from the front.
  5. If a newer item has an earlier date, it goes in front. First expired, first out.
  6. Check dates weekly. Throw out anything past its date and log it.

FIFO applies to the fridge, the freezer and dry storage.

Sources: Source protocols: FIFO, first in first out

The rules behind it

  • Date marking and disposal. Ready-to-eat TCS food held over 24 hours is labeled and used within 7 days at 41°F (day of prep = day 1); home kitchens: same day or 72 hours. Food Code 3-501.17, 3-501.18; R392-102-12(7)–(9)
  • Storage order and separation. Ready-to-eat on top, then fish, whole cuts, ground meat, poultry on the bottom; raw meat types kept apart; food and cups, lids and paper goods 6 inches off the floor (cases on a pallet, dolly or rack can sit lower; cased cans and bottles, and milk in crates, can sit on a clean, dry floor); never in toilet, locker, dressing, garbage or mechanical rooms, or under an unshielded sewer line, a leaking or sweating water line or open stairs (food trucks: Utah R392-102-11(15), (16)). Between uses, an in-use utensil rests in one of the six places the Code lists (3-304.12: in the food with the handle up, a closed bin of dry food, a clean sanitized spot, running water, a clean protected spot for a scoop of food that is not TCS food, or water at 135°F or above); single-service articles stay in the package or covered and are handled by the handle or base (4-904.11). Food Code 3-302.11, 3-305.11, 3-305.12, 3-304.12, 4-903.11, 4-903.12, 4-904.11; R392-102-11(15), (16), R392-102-9(16); docs/source/research/hygiene-and-kits.md DS1-DS9