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Improper rotation of product can also lead to spoilage. First in, first out is the mantra in the foodservice business. Label perishable products when they arrive from your purveyors with the date written on a piece of masking tape. Also, make sure that the new product is being placed behind older product when it is put away. When it's busy, and employees are scrambling for more product, they may not take the time to look at the dates affixed to the product, so you'll want to make sure that the older product is in front of the new.
Improper storage is another way that product can be lost. Pastries, breads, meats, cheeses, etc. not being carefully wrapped before being put into storage will certainly result in dried out, unusable product. Your barista leaving the whipped cream and smoothie puree on the counter top for extended periods of time, (instead of placing them back in the refrigerator immediately), might also result in spoiled product if they are not used up in a reasonably short period of time.
Improper handling includes things like unacceptable methods of thawing frozen product. Leaving frozen turkey breast to thaw on the prep table at room temperature, or worse yet, zapping it in the microwave, will certainly shorten its shelf life. Frozen product should be pulled from the freezer and moved to the refrigerator 48 hours prior to being needed, or in a worst case scenario, force thawed by submersing under cold running water.
Also, food that is not being heated or cooled properly will also be more prone to spoilage. Hot foods should be heated from a refrigerated state to 140°F as quickly as possible. And when it is time to store these foods under refrigeration, their temperature should be lowered to under 40°F as quickly as possible. Bacteria grows rapidly between 40°F and 140°F, so minimizing the time your food will spend between those temperatures is critical.
Cross contamination occurs by bacteria transfer from unwashed hands, work surfaces, tools, or direct contact with other foods. This will cause products to spoil prematurely.
And finally, there's malfunctioning equipment. If your cold foods are being held in a refrigerator that can't maintain proper temperature (under 40°F), because of a leaking door gasket, or because it needs a coolant charge, it will tend to spoil rapidly. Do you check the thermometers in all of your refrigerators each day? You should!
For many owners, just discovering they are losing products to spoilage is a challenge. Do your employees tell you if they run across spoiled ingredients, or do they just throw things in the trash without you knowing? Make sure that you tell all your employees to inform you, without failure, whenever they encounter unusable product. You need to see it, determine why it happened, and make sure it won't happen again.