Can You Taste Food While Cooking?

Can you taste food while you cook in a restaurant?

Yes, with a clean utensil used once. Spoon a little into a separate cup, taste from that, and the spoon goes in the dirty bin. Never taste with the stirring spoon, the ladle or your fingers, and never double-dip (FDA Food Code 3-301.12). Tasting can't tell you food is safe.

Tasting the wrong way puts mouth germs right into food that customers eat.

How do you taste safely?

Use a clean utensil for each taste of food that will be sold or served, and use it only once.
Keep a cup of clean single-use tasting spoons at the stove.
Spoon a little into a separate cup and taste from that, not from the pot.
Never taste with the stirring spoon, serving ladle, tongs or your fingers.
Never double-dip. One spoon, one taste, then into the dirty bin.
Wash your hands if your hand touched your mouth.
Never taste raw or undercooked meat, poultry, eggs or batter.

Sources: Food Code 3-301.12 · Utah R392-102-14(15) for trucks · Source protocols: tasting food

Can tasting tell you food is still good?

Germs that make people sick usually can't be seen, smelled or tasted.
Never taste food to check if it's still good. Go by time and temperature.
If it smells or looks off, throw it out anyway. When in doubt, throw it out.

Sources: Source protocols: spoiled is not the same as unsafe

The rules behind it

Personal hygiene. Short clean nails, no jewelry but a plain band, hair and beard restraints, clean outer clothing; eat, drink and use tobacco only in a designated area away from food (the one exception: a sip from a closed drink container, handled so it can't contaminate hands, the container, food, clean dishes or single-service items); a clean utensil for each taste of food that will be served, used only once. Food Code 2-302.11, 2-303.11, 2-304.11, 2-401.11, 2-402.11, 2-301.14, 3-301.12, 6-403.11; R392-102-14(4), (9)–(15); docs/source/research/hygiene-and-kits.md RW1-RW10
No bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat food. Use tongs, deli tissue, waxed paper or gloves; single-use gloves for one task; bare-hand contact only with county approval and records. Food Code 3-301.11, 3-304.15, 2-401.13; R392-102-14(1)–(3) (trucks: no bare-hand variance)