To what temperature do I cook pre-prepared food?

Some pre-prepared foods must be cooked before service. Examples of pre-prepared foods that will be cooked before service include cooked ground beef, lasagna, and spaghetti sauce. Examples of foods that do not need to be cooked before service are baked goods, such as breads and rolls.

If the pre-prepared food to be cooked is potentially hazardous, it must be cooked to a specific endpoint cooking temperature to be sure it is safe to eat. Endpoint cooking temperatures are outlined in 2-5: Safe Food Handling of the SC School HACCP Plan.

All pre-prepared foods that are cooked before service either from the frozen or thawed state, are actually being reheated and not cooked. Therefore, according to the SC School HACCP Plan, the U.S. Food Code (2005), and the SC Foodservice Rules, all potentially hazardous foods must be reheated to 165 degrees F or hotter within two hours.

Bottom line -- potentially hazardous foods that are pre-prepared and that will be cooked must be cooked to 165 degrees F or hotter before service. If a pre-prepared food is mixed with other ingredients that have a lesser endpoint cooking temperature, the entire mixture must be heated to 165 degrees F.