Food-Service-Manual-for-Health-Care-Institutions

Food Service Manual for Health Care Institutions
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advantage gained from competitive bidding based on well-written specifications easily can be
lost as a consequence of poor receiving practices. Acceptance of poor-quality products or incorrect
amounts can mean financial loss to a food service department. This risk can be eliminated
or minimized if sound receiving procedures and properly trained personnel are in place.
Receiving procedures vary among institutions, but some basic rules apply to all facilities.
Responsibility for checking quantities should be assigned to receiving or storeroom personnel.
In small organizations, this may be one of several tasks assigned to production personnel.
Inspection and evaluation for quality should be the responsibility of someone who knows the
specifications or at least is qualified to judge the quality of the goods being delivered. Whoever
is charged with inspecting shipment deliveries should prepare ahead of time for each one. They
should understand the process by which products are received and know what to do if a problem
occurs with an incoming shipment. Deliveries should be made at scheduled times and days.
This means knowing the delivery dates and approximate times so that space and equipment can
be made available and knowing how to complete receiving records. Because most deliveries are
made on a regular schedule, this should be relatively easy.
Receiving staff should immediately check the merchandise, perishable items first, preferably
while the delivery person is still present. The count, weight, quality, and condition of the
merchandise should be compared with the purchase order or quotation sheet before delivery is
accepted (Figure 18.1). Scales should be available for checking items ordered by weight. Any
cases or cartons that appear damaged should be opened right away. The quality of fresh produce
should be inspected at the top and the bottom of each container. The internal temperature
of all frozen foods should be 0°F (–18°C). If the temperature exceeds 0°F, the foods should
be rejected. If such a detailed check is not possible, the receiving staff should inspect packages
for signs indicating that the product may have been subjected to undesirably high temperatures.
Wet or dripping packages should never be accepted.
Next, the staff should date or tag all chilled, frozen, and nonperishable foods as they are
received to ensure their use on a FIFO basis. Such foods should be stored immediately. (The
price per unit can be recorded on frozen and nonperishable items at this point.)
Meat tags are a good idea for tagging all large pieces of meat (Exhibit 18.1). These tags
can be purchased from large supply companies. Use meat tags to assist with inventory, to label
FIFO meat, and to assist in avoiding theft. This is a two-part tag that is attached to the product
before it is placed in storage; the duplicate copy is filed, and when the product is issued
from storage to production, the tag is compared with the copy on file. This method helps in the
rotating of stock and in determining daily food costs. This method may not be useful in small
institutions because it is time-consuming.
Invoices or delivery slips are stamped with an invoice stamp (Exhibit 18.2), and the receiving
clerk initials the appropriate line. Information is then entered into a computer file and sent
to the finance and accounting department.
Only after foods have been inspected, dated, tagged, stamped, and approved should the
staff sign the delivery slip from the vendor and fill out the required receiving report. Unordered
or rejected merchandise should be returned immediately. Nonperishable foods and supplies
should be transferred to appropriate storage areas as soon as possible (nonfood items should
always be stored separately from food supplies).
Receiving and issuing staff should be provided needed equipment to perform their functions.
This includes hand trucks or forklifts that can move pallets. Pallets are portable wooden
or metal platforms for handling by a forklift truck and can be used for storing products in the
storeroom. Scales that weigh items up to 200 to 500 pounds, desk, chair, computer, calculator,
crowbars, and short-blade knives for opening containers and packages are also needed. Digital
computerized thermometers to check chilled and frozen foods, clipboards, pens, pencils, marking
pens, and meat tags should also be available. Electronic receiving tools such as those that
read bar codes and tabulator scales that weigh and automatically print the weight on paper are
used in large-scale food service operations.