Define "potentially hazardous food."
A potentially hazardous food is a natural or synthetic food that needs
to be held at 41°F or colder or 135°F or hotter because it is in a form
capable of supporting:
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the rapid and progressive growth of infectious or toxigenic bacteria
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the growth and toxin production of Clostridium botulinum or
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in raw shell eggs, the growth of Salmonella Enteritidis
Potentially hazardous foods include foods of animal origin that are raw
or heat-treated, a food of plant origin that is heat-treated or consists
of raw seed sprouts, cut melons, and garlic-in-oil mixtures that have
not been properly acidified to prevent the growth of pathogenic bacteria.
Potentially hazardous food does not include:
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An air-cooled hard-boiled egg with shell intact, or a shell egg that
is not hard-boiled, but has been treated to destroy all viable Salmonella,
such as pasteurized in the shell eggs;
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A food with a water activity value of 0.85 or less, such as jams or
jellies;
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A food with a pH level of 4.6 or below when measured at 75°F, such as
properly prepared sushi rice or pickles;
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A food, in an unopened hermetically sealed container, that is
commercially processed to achieve and maintain commercial sterility
under conditions of nonrefrigerated storage and distribution;
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A food for which laboratory evidence demonstrates that the rapid and
progressive growth of pathogens cannot occur.
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A food that does not support the growth of pathogenic microorganisms
even though the food may contain an infectious or toxigenic
microorganism or chemical or physical contaminant at a level
sufficient to cause illness.
Source:
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 2001. Food Code.
Available at www.fda.gov.
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