410 IAC 7-26-216 Time as a public health control

Sec. 216. (a) Except as specified under subsection (d), if time without temperature control is used as the public health control for a working supply of TCS food before cooking, or for ready-to-eat TCS food displayed or held for sale or service: (1) written procedures shall be prepared in advance, maintained in the retail food establishment, and made available to the regulatory authority on request that specify: (A) methods of compliance with subsection (b)(1) through (b)(4) or subsection (c); and (B) methods of compliance with section 211 of this rule for food that is prepared, cooked, and refrigerated before time is used as a public health control. (b) The following apply if time without temperature control is used as the public health control for not more than four (4) hours: (1) The food must have an initial temperature of not more than forty-one (41) degrees Fahrenheit, five (5) degrees Celsius, when removed from cold holding temperature control, or one hundred thirty-five (135) degrees Fahrenheit, fifty-seven (57) degrees Celsius, or greater when removed from hot holding temperature control. (2) The food may have an initial temperature of not more than seventy (70) degrees Fahrenheit, twenty-one (21) degrees Celsius if: (A) it is a ready-to-eat fruit or vegetable that after cutting is rendered a TCS food as defined in section 125 of this rule; (B) it is a ready-to-eat, hermetically sealed food that after opening is rendered a TCS food as defined in section 125 of this rule; (C) the food temperature does not exceed seventy (70) degrees Fahrenheit, twenty-one (21) degrees Celsius, within a maximum period of four (4) hours after the time it was rendered a TCS food; and (D) the food is marked or otherwise identified to indicate the time that is four (4) hours past the time when the food is rendered a TCS food as specified in clauses (A) and (B). (3) The food must be marked or otherwise identified to indicate the time that is four (4) hours past the point in time when the food is removed from temperature control. (4) The food must be cooked and served, served at any temperature if ready-to-eat, or discarded within four (4) hours after the time when the food is removed from temperature control. (5) Food in unmarked containers or packages, or marked to exceed a four (4) hour limit, must be discarded. (c) The following apply if time without temperature control is used as the public health control for not more than six (6) hours: (1) The food must have an initial temperature of forty-one (41) degrees Fahrenheit, five (5) degrees Celsius, or less when removed from temperature control, and the food temperature may not exceed seventy (70) degrees Fahrenheit twenty-one (21) degrees Celsius, within a maximum period of six (6) hours. (2) The food must be monitored to ensure the warmest portion of the food does not exceed seventy (70) degrees Fahrenheit, twenty-one (21) degrees Celsius, during the six (6) hour period, unless an ambient air temperature is maintained that ensures the food does not exceed seventy (70) degrees Fahrenheit, twenty-one (21) degrees Celsius, during the six (6) hour holding period. (3) The food must be marked or otherwise identified to indicate: (A) the time when the food is removed from forty-one (41) degrees Fahrenheit, five (5) degrees Celsius, or less cold holding temperature control; and (B) the time that is six (6) hours after the time when the food is removed from cold holding temperature control. (4) The food must be: (A) discarded if the temperature of the food exceeds seventy (70) degrees Fahrenheit, twenty-one (21) degrees Celsius; or (B) cooked and served, served at any temperature if ready-to-eat, or discarded within not more than of six (6) hours after the time when the food is removed from at least forty-one (41) degrees Fahrenheit, five (5) degrees Celsius cold holding temperature control. (5) Food in unmarked containers or packages, or marked with a time that exceeds the six (6) hour limit, must be discarded. (d) A retail food establishment that serves a highly susceptible population may not use time as specified under subsections (a), (b), or (c) [subsection (a), (b), or (c)] as the public health control for raw eggs. (e) For purposes of this section, a violation of subsection (b)(1), (b)(4), (b)(5), (c)(1), (c)(4), or (c)(5) is a P item. (f) For purposes of this section, a violation of subsection (a), (b)(3), (c)(2), or (c)(3) is a PF item. (g) For purposes of the section, a violation of subsections (b)(2) and (d) is a core item.