How to pack a commercial fridge: shelf order, covering and labelling to stop cross-contamination

Open the walk-in at the end of a busy lunch and you will often find raw chicken dripping onto a tray of coleslaw, an open can of tomato paste and three unlabelled containers nobody will own. Getting the commercial fridge storage order right is one of the cheapest controls a kitchen has. It costs nothing but a habit, and it prevents cross-contamination every hour of the day.

Why fridge layout is a cross-contamination control

A fridge slows the growth of most bacteria. It does not kill them. Raw meat, poultry and fish carry bacteria such as Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli on their surfaces. When their juices drip onto food that will not be cooked again, those bacteria go straight to the customer.

Some bacteria, like Listeria monocytogenes, can even grow slowly at fridge temperatures. That is why ready-to-eat food must be protected, covered and used within its shelf life, not just kept cold.

Liquids run downwards. So the logic of fridge layout is simple: the food that must stay cleanest goes at the top, and the food that will be cooked most thoroughly goes at the bottom.

Top to bottom: the shelf order and the reasons

In a fridge that holds both raw and ready-to-eat food, use this order:

Shelf	What goes there	Why
Top	Ready-to-eat food: cooked meats, desserts, salads, sandwiches, dairy, leftovers	Will not be cooked again, so nothing may drip onto it
Upper middle	Raw fish and seafood	Usually cooked to a lower temperature or for a shorter time than other raw proteins
Middle	Whole cuts of raw beef, lamb and pork	Bacteria mostly on the surface, which cooking reaches easily
Lower middle	Raw minced meat, sausages, boerewors	Surface bacteria are mixed right through, so the product must be cooked through
Bottom	Raw poultry	Highest risk of Salmonella and Campylobacter; must be cooked thoroughly, and drips can reach nothing below it

Unwashed vegetables with soil on them should be kept away from ready-to-eat food too, ideally in their own area or at a lower level. The best arrangement of all is separate fridges for raw and ready-to-eat food. Where space allows, do it.

Covering, containers and what not to store in opened cans

Shelf order is the first barrier. Covering is the second.

• Cover everything with a lid, cling film or foil. Uncovered food dries out, picks up odours and catches drips and condensation.
• Use food-grade containers that are clean, undamaged and easy to clean. Avoid using old ice cream tubs or shop plastic bags.
• Put raw meat on a tray with a lip, so any juice is caught.
• Do not store food in opened cans. Once a can is opened and exposed to air, metal from the can can transfer into the food, especially with acidic foods like tomatoes or fruit. Decant into a clean, covered container and label it.
• Keep cardboard out of the fridge where possible. Outer boxes from suppliers carry dirt and sometimes pests, and they soak up moisture.
• Store food off the floor in walk-in cold rooms, on shelving or pallets.

Labelling: prep date, use by and who made it

An unlabelled container is a guess. During audits we often ask a cook how old a tub of sauce is, and the answer is “yesterday, I think”. Every container of prepared or decanted food should have a label with:

• The name of the food.
• The date it was prepared or opened.
• The date it must be used by, according to your shelf life rules.
• The initials of the person who made it.
• Allergen information where your kitchen uses a system for this.

Use a simple shelf life chart on the wall so staff do not have to calculate use-by dates themselves. Colour-coded day labels work well in busy kitchens: one colour per day, so an old container stands out from across the room. For bought-in food, the manufacturer’s use-by date applies until the pack is opened. After that, your own rule for opened products takes over.

First in, first out without the chaos

First in, first out (FIFO) means older stock is used before newer stock. In practice, it fails when deliveries are put in front of old stock because that is quicker. To make FIFO work:

• Put new deliveries behind or under existing stock of the same product.
• Give each product a fixed place, so staff know where to look.
• Check use-by dates at receiving, and refuse short-dated stock you cannot use in time.
• Do not overload the fridge. Cold air must circulate around food. A fridge packed to the door cannot hold its temperature, especially when it is opened often during service.
• Leave space between items and do not block the fan or the air vents.
• Do not put hot food straight into a fridge. Cool it quickly first using your cooling procedure, then refrigerate.

An example from a canteen in Midrand: the walk-in held its temperature all morning, then rose every afternoon. The cause was not the compressor. Staff stacked the 10:00 delivery in front of the evaporator fan and left the door open while unloading. A clear “no stock in front of the fan” line on the floor and a two-person unloading routine solved it.

Walk-in, under-counter and display fridges: what changes

Walk-in cold rooms

The same top-to-bottom rule applies on each shelving unit. Many kitchens also dedicate whole shelving units to raw or ready-to-eat food. Keep the floor clear, the door seal clean and intact, and the door closed. Check that the internal door release works, so nobody can be trapped inside.

Under-counter fridges

These are opened constantly during service and warm up quickly. Stock them with what you need for the shift only. Keep raw and ready-to-eat items in separate units where you can. If you cannot, use the shelf order and covered containers.

Display fridges

Display fridges in delis and shops are designed to keep cold food cold, not to cool food down. Only put food that is already chilled into them. Never display raw meat next to or above ready-to-eat food, and keep separate tongs and serving utensils for each.

The two-minute daily fridge check

A food handler should do this check at the start of every shift:

1. Read the thermometer or display and record the temperature. R638 requires chilling and freezing facilities to have a thermometer, so if a fridge has none or it is broken, report it. Report any reading outside your limit to the supervisor immediately.
2. Look at the shelf order. Is anything raw above ready-to-eat food?
3. Check that all food is covered and labelled.
4. Remove anything past its use-by date and record it as waste.
5. Check for spills, drips and mould, and clean them up.
6. Check the door seal and that the door closes properly.

These checks are part of the hygiene system that an Environmental Health Practitioner expects under R638, and they are exactly what we look for during food hygiene audits. Food handlers learn them fastest when they understand the reasons. Our online food safety practices course for food handlers covers temperature control, storage and cross-contamination in practical terms.

What to do this week

• Print the shelf order table and stick it inside every fridge door.
• Throw out or decant anything stored in opened cans.
• Introduce one labelling format and one shelf life chart for the whole kitchen.
• Clear the area in front of fans and vents in every fridge.
• Add the two-minute check to your opening checklist and ask a supervisor to sign it off daily.