Missing Tags and a Warm Truck: A Seafood Delivery Decision
At 9:40 a.m., a seafood supplier arrives at a 90-seat restaurant with the weekly order. The invoice lists 3 cases of live oysters in mesh bags, 2 cases of frozen shrimp, and 1 case of vacuum-packed cold-smoked salmon. The receiving clerk notes that the two rear oyster cases have no shellstock tags and no tag numbers on the bags, that the shellfish internal temperature reads 50°F while the ambient air in the truck box is 48°F, and that the frozen shrimp cases have soft, partly thawed corners with ice crystals and free liquid in the liners. The truck's rear door stood open for the 20-minute delivery. The driver says the tags fell off in the truck and offers to fax them later. The chef is waiting for the oysters for tonight's service, and the clerk is behind on prep. The written policy says every delivery is checked by the person in charge.
1. Decide whether to accept or reject each of the three items, with the Food Code basis for each decision.
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Reject the oysters. Shellstock tags must be attached to the container at receipt; a promise to fax them later does not satisfy the requirement, because the tag carries harvest area, harvest date and dealer, which is what traceability and Vibrio control depend on. Temperature is a second, independent reason: shellstock must be received at 45°F ambient or less, with internal temperature at 50°F or less, and both readings are at or over the limit after the door stood open for 20 minutes. Reject the shrimp: soft corners, free liquid and ice crystals mean it thawed and refroze, so it is adulterated. The vacuum-packed cold-smoked salmon may be accepted only if it arrived frozen or at 41°F or less with the required reduced-oxygen-packaging documentation; check it rather than assume.
2. If shellstock is accepted from this or any supplier, what is required of the tags afterward?
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Keep each tag attached to its container until the container is emptied, then retain the tag for 90 calendar days from the date the container was emptied. Write the date the last shellfish was served from that container on the tag, and if shellfish is transferred to another container, keep the tag with it. File tags by date so they can be produced during an inspection or a recall. If a customer later reports Vibrio or norovirus illness, the tags are the only way to connect the illness to a harvest area or dealer. No tag means no sale: an untagged oyster cannot be traced, and the establishment, not the supplier, holds the liability.
3. The clerk already signed for a previous delivery with the same problems. What corrective and follow-up actions should the manager take?
Read the worked answer
Document the rejection on the invoice before signing, list the reasons (missing tags, ambient 48°F, internal 50°F, thawed product), photograph the cases and the thermometer readings, and note the driver's refusal to sign if that happens. Isolate and label any rejected product so nobody puts it away. Call the supplier the same day to request credit or replacement and to report that the truck door was left open. If the same supplier has now sent untagged shellstock twice, the manager should notify the regulatory authority, because untagged shellstock points to a dealer-level problem that one credit note will not correct.