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Writer's pictureFrank Madaio

Date Marking Food Servsafe Westchester Food


Date marking food is key. It’s required and a very helpful tool. 7 days for prepared or open bags of food. Keeping food and serving it in the right amount of time is important. Keep in mind that although the limit is 7 days that might not fly. Let’s say you prepare two cambros of Chicken Teriyaki. Although 7 days is a guideline, in actuality 7 days is way too long.

Think of a realistic holding food date. Three days 2 days is more realistic for certain foods. Controlling and date marking are food is great because it will help reduce spending and waste.

Another advantage while date marking your cambros, consider writing the initials of the person who prepared or date market the food. Here you can control the quality of the product and insure the person who prepared it actually did as they were supposed to. For example you have cut tomatoes and you find the mushy or not cut evenly, you can track down who prepared the tomatoes and re train.


Date marking is great because we can monitor the safety of the food by ensuring and regulating the food if a food borne illness arises.


The count begins on the day that the food was prepared or a commercial container. For example, potato salad prepared and stored on October 1 would have a discard date of October 7 on the label. The TCS food can be kept for seven days if it is stored at 41°F or lower. If the TCS food is not used within seven days it must be discarded. Remember, Day 1 is the day the product was made. Example: If a product was made on October 15, the use-by date would be October 21.

Is food still good after best by date? The best before date, sometimes shown as BBE (best before end), is about quality and not safety. The food will be safe to eat after this date but may not be at its best. Its flavour and texture might not be as good.


What food is a TCS food?

Foods that need time and temperature control for safety—known as TCS foods—include milk and dairy products, eggs, meat (beef, pork, and lamb), poultry, fish, shellfish and crustaceans, baked potatoes, tofu or other soy protein, sprouts and sprout seeds, sliced melons, cut tomatoes, cut leafy greens, untreated garlic.

How long after sell by date can you eat eggs?

Refrigerated raw shell eggs will keep without significant quality loss for about 4 to 5 weeks beyond the sell date or about 3 weeks after you bring them home. A general rule to follow is that any egg that looks or smells odd should NOT be used. Just crack each egg in a small bowl, smell it – your nose will tell you!


Sign up with a Food Manager Course with Westchester Food Safety. We serve the tri-state area. Westchester, Bergen & Fairfield County.

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