Food Storage, Stock Rotation and Labelling
This domain tests how food is stored, how stock is rotated, and what a label must legally show. Questions range from choosing the correct date mark to identifying a missing label element, so learn both the storage rules and the labelling list.
Storage conditions
- Dry store: cool (around 10–15 °C), dry, well ventilated, away from sunlight and heat sources. Food off the floor (about 15 cm) and away from walls to allow cleaning and air circulation.
- Refrigerator: 0–5 °C, raw food below ready-to-eat, everything covered and labelled.
- Freezer: −18 °C or colder; wrap well to prevent freezer burn; label with date and contents.
- Chemical store: locked and separate from food.
Stock rotation
Use FIFO - first in, first out: older stock is used first and new deliveries go behind it. Check dates daily and remove out-of-date stock immediately to a designated quarantine area.
Date marks
- Use-by is about safety. Food must not be sold, cooked or eaten after it. It cannot be extended by freezing at home or in the business unless the manufacturer states otherwise.
- Best-before is about quality. Food past it may still be safe but is no longer at its best.
- Opened foods often carry a manufacturer's instruction such as "use within 3 days of opening", which then applies.
Legal label content (prepacked food)
Name of the food; list of ingredients in descending order by weight; the 14 allergens emphasised in the ingredients list; quantitative ingredient declaration (QUID) for named ingredients; net quantity; date mark; storage conditions and, where needed, instructions for use; name and address of the food business operator; country of origin where required; and nutrition declaration for most prepacked foods.
Worked example
A deli receives a delivery of cooked ham dated Tuesday and already holds two packs dated Friday. Reasoning: the older Friday-dated stock must be used first, so the new Tuesday packs go behind the existing ones after the Friday stock in front. If the shop instead put the new packs in front, the Friday stock would expire unused - a FIFO failure. If a pack has passed its use-by date, it is removed and discarded; it cannot be relabelled or used in cooking.
Traps that cost marks
- Treating use-by and best-before as interchangeable.
- Thinking a use-by date can be extended by freezing in the business.
- Listing ingredients in the wrong order - allergens often appear but not emphasised.
- Storing food directly on the floor or against walls.
- Forgetting opened-product instructions.