Food Safety is of the utmost importance to the Coastal Growers Market. Here are some of the most recent guidelines that you can share with your staff:
Temperature:
- Seafood: All fish and shellfish must be at 41 degrees or less. Shellfish should never be in contact with pooling water.
- Eggs: All eggs must be at 41 degrees or less.
- Bakery Items: Bakery items such as sandwiches or calzones must be at 41 degrees or less.
- Frozen Foods: All frozen items such as meat, must be kept frozen.
Display of Bakery Items:
- All bakery items must be either behind a sneeze guard or individually wrapped. Any individually wrapped item must contain a list of ingredients.
Sampling:
- All self-serve samples must be in individual serving cups.
- It is recommended that vendors passing out samples of their wares have samples protected by a sneeze guard.
- Vendors must wear clean food grade non-latex gloves while passing out samples.
- All vegetables and fruits cut for sampling must be clean.
- The preparer must have clean hands or clean non-latex food grade gloves and use a clean cutting board and knife. If cutting is to be done at market, vendor must have a way to clean cutting boards and knives or bring extra cutting boards and knives. If cutting is to be done at home, samples must be transported to market in a clean or sterile container.
- Any product requiring refrigeration must be kept at the proper temperature for sampling.
Storage:
- All vendors under the jurisdiction of the Health Department must keep their product six inches off of the ground.
- All vegetable and fruit farmers must keep their product off of the ground. A tarp is sufficient if you cannot adhere to the six inch rule.
Sanitation:
- All vendors who take a break to eat, smoke or to use the bathroom must wash their hands before returning to market.
- Vendors are encouraged to set up their own hand washing station. Note: hand sanitizer does not take the place of washing hands with soap and water.
Licensing:
- All vendors must have the appropriate licenses for their business.
- All meat must be processed in a USDA facility.
- All poultry must be processed in a USDA facility unless that farmer has a USDA poultry exemption.