Conference for Food Protection

At the 2012 Biennial Meeting, Issue III 2012-021 created the Emergency Action Plan Committee and charged it to incorporate a new chart which would lengthen the amount of time a food product could remain out of temperature during an emergency situation and still retain its original shelf life as long as it was back to 41^oF within the specified time frame for that maximum temperature.

This Issue addresses specifically the time temperature combinations recommended along with guidance for their use and three examples of how the table is to be used.

This Issue is being submitted in case the Emergency Action Plan Committee's Issue entitled EAP 2-Emergency Action Plan for Retail Food Establishments, Second Edition is not accepted. This will enable the time and temperature recommendations developed by the committee to be inserted into the existing CFP document entitled Emergency Action Plan for Retail Food Establishments.

During times of natural disasters, crises and other events which interrupt the normal distribution and production of food, it may be necessary to have temporary alternative processes in place to provide food for the affected population. Many times when these adverse events occur food can be safely prepared and distributed utilizing procedures that differ from what is normally required in the Food Code.

The Emergency Action Plan for Retail Food Establishments, Second Edition document, where this chart and examples are included, provides assistance to industry and regulators by providing information that will help guide them when determining when a food establishment can continue to sell foods with their original sell by date even though those foods have been out of temperature for a limited amount of time.

These time and temperature combinations have been validated by Don Schaffner of Rutgers University using ComBase predictor model predictions for Listeria monocytogenes and a variety of conservative assumptions. See pages 15-20 (Starting with the cold holding section on page 15) of the Emergency Action Plan for Retail Food Establishments, Second Edition document attached to the Emergency Action Plan Committee's Issue entitled Emergency Action Plan Committee Report for more information, and the specific recommendations and language.

that the guidance in the 'Cold Holding of TCS Food' section of the 'Interruption of Electrical Service' chapter in the guidance document entitled Emergency Action Plan for Retail Food Establishments, Second Edition (pages 15-20), be accepted by the conference and placed in the CFP's existing document entitled Emergency Action Plan for Retail Food Establishments (currently posted on the CFP web site) replacing the 'Refrigerated Food Safety Guide' section on pages 10 and 11.