Top to bottom

  1. Top: ready-to-eat food (salads, desserts, cut fruit, cooked leftovers, deli meat, cheese, drinks)
  2. Raw fish and seafood (cooked to 145°F)
  3. Whole cuts of beef, pork and lamb; raw shell eggs (145°F)
  4. Ground meat and ground fish (155°F)
  5. Bottom: raw poultry and stuffed foods (165°F)

Raw meat sits in a pan or sealed container even on the right shelf.

Sources: Food Code 3-302.11 · Source protocols: refrigerator and cooler stacking order

Keep raw meat types apart

Raw beef, pork, lamb, fish and poultry are kept apart from each other, not just from ready-to-eat food. Use at least one:

  • Separate containers, shelves or coolers for each type
  • Separate boards, knives, tongs and platters for each type
  • Separate times: prep one type, then wash, rinse and sanitize, change gloves and wash hands before the next

Never put cooked meat back on a platter that held raw meat. Never reuse a raw-meat marinade as a sauce unless it's boiled first.

Sources: Food Code 3-302.11(A)(2) · Source protocols: separate raw meat types from each other

Fridge and freezer tips

  • Fridge at 41°F or below; freezer at 0°F or below.
  • Leave space for cold air. Don't block the vents.
  • Raw meat goes below ready-to-eat food in the freezer too.
  • Label and date premade food and leftovers.

Sources: Food Code 3-501.16 · Source protocols: freezer organization and FIFO

Where food may never be stored

  • Keep food at least 6 inches off the floor.
  • Never in restrooms, locker or dressing rooms, garbage rooms, or mechanical rooms (furnace, water heater, electrical).
  • Never under stairs, or under sewer lines, leaking water lines or fire sprinkler lines.

Sources: Food Code 3-305.11 · Food Code 3-305.12

The rules behind it

  • Storage order and separation. Ready-to-eat on top, then fish, whole cuts, ground meat, poultry on the bottom; raw meat types kept apart; 6 inches off the floor; never in restrooms, mechanical or garbage rooms. Food Code 3-302.11, 3-305.11, 3-305.12