For the situation below, identify the food safety errors the person made and identify what the person should have done.

Question

Scenario:

Steven is hosting a party for his parent’s 20th wedding anniversary. Over 30 people will be attending. It is a potluck dinner so all the guests will be bringing a food dish. Steven is planning to serve the food buffet style. The guests are expected to arrive at 3:00 pm and dinner will be served at 5:00. Steven has 2 chafing dishes to keep food warm. He hopes there won’t be many dishes that need to be kept warm. The day of the party turns out to be really hot. The temperature reaches 30̊ C by 3:00 pm. Steven decides to put out the appetizers before the guests arrive. As the food platters empty, he adds more food to the platters. At 4:30 he clears the table of appetizers and puts out the dinner foods. Steven has prepared his famous barbecued chicken wings. He refrigerated them until just before serving. He reheated the chicken in the oven just until they were warm because he had so many other foods that needed to be reheated. Overall, the party goes really smoothly. At 10:00 pm, when everyone has left, Steven clears the table and puts the leftovers into the fridge. The next morning Steven and his parents wake up feeling ill. What went wrong and what should have Steven done?

Please help!

Answer 1

Steven made several mistakes that led to his parents getting food poisoning. He needed more chafing dishes to keep the hot foods hot and enough refrigeration to keep the cold foods cold. Bacteria multiplies quickly between 40-50 degrees Celsius. He should have put the appetizers out as or after the guests arrived. Also, Steven needed to take the guests potluck foods and have them in the kitchen in the oven above 160F and in the fridge at 32F and below. He didn't heat the chicken hot enough to prevent bacteria from spreading. The chicken should have been fully cooked and hot at a temperature of 71C/160F to prevent Salmonella. Lastly, by the end of the party the food (especially the chicken) had been sitting out for about 5-6 hours at improper temperatures creating a breeding ground for bacteria. Food should be cleared away and refrigerated throughout the evening.