Convenience means many things to many people, but anything that helps save time is always high on everyone’s list of conveniences. With more Americans working and being more time-crunched than ever, the ultimate time saver and convenience is home delivery of mail order foods.
While the mail order industry enjoys a good safety record, ordering food through the mail may cause concerns about food safety, shelf life, and
distribution. It’s imperative to develop some mental checklists for how both food and packaging should look when perishable mail order foods arrive. This is especially true for meat, poultry, fish, and other perishable foods such as cheesecake, which must be carefully handled in a timely manner to prevent foodborne illness.
The following food safety tips will help the purchaser and recipient determine if their perishable foods have been handled properly:
• Make sure the company sends perishable items, like meat or poultry, cold or frozen and packed with a cold source. It should be packed in foam or heavy corrugated cardboard.
• The food should be delivered as quickly as possible — ideally, overnight. Make sure perishable items and the outer package are labeled “Keep Refrigerated” to alert the recipient.
• When you receive a food item marked “Keep Refrigerated,” open it immediately and check its temperature. The food should arrive frozen or partially frozen with ice crystals still visible or at least refrigerator cold—below 40 °F as measured with a food thermometer. Even if a product is smoked, cured, vacuumpacked, and/or fully cooked, it still is a perishable product and must be kept cold. If perishable food arrives warm -- above 40 °F as measured with a food thermometer, notify the company. Do not consume the food. Do not even taste suspect food.
