How long can I safely keep a bag of shredded carrots and other packages of food that I open?

The first step in determining how long a food can be stored is to determine if it is an ingredient or a menu item. Ingredients (such as shredded cheese) are mixed with other foods (such as pasta, tomato sauce, meat) to produce a menu item (lasagna). Menu items are what you serve to your students.

All leftover menu items must be used within three days. This includes potentially hazardous foods (such as lasagna and chef salads) and non-potentially hazardous foods (cookies and bread that are not commercially packaged). This also applies to all foods that have prepared on a given day and that are still in the refrigerator, in a hot box, or in the case of a non-potentially hazardous food, portioned in-house and ready to be served. If leftovers are frozen, they must also be used within three days. This includes all both potentially hazardous and non-potentially hazardous foods. The only exception to this would be for bread and other baked goods that are made on-site. Guidelines for handling these specific items is being prepared.

If the item is an ingredient, it can be stored for up to seven days. The only exception to this rule would be dry foods, such as pasta, flour, salt, sugar. These items can be stored for longer times as recommended on a reputable storage chart.

Remember some ingredients can also be classified as menu items. For example, shredded cheese could be used in lasagna but it could also be portioned out and served as a condiment. The bag of shredded cheese could be saved for seven days but the portions of shredded cheese that have been portioned must be used within three days. This rule applies to all portioned shredded cheese not just the portions of cheese on the serving line. It also applies to the portions of shredded that are in the refrigerator waiting to be served.