--- name: food-safety-compliance-checker description: "Reviews a described kitchen situation, procedure, or operation against ServSafe and FDA Food Code standards, flags each compliance gap by severity, cites the specific standard violated, and delivers ranked corrective actions with a re-inspection checklist. Use when checking whether a kitchen practice, station setup, or reported incident meets food safety standards, preparing for a health inspection, or diagnosing why a violation occurred." argument-hint: "[situation-description] [operation-type]" allowed-tools: ["Read"] --- # Food Safety Compliance Checker ## Purpose Take a plain-language description of a kitchen situation, station, or incident and return a severity-ranked list of compliance gaps against ServSafe and FDA Food Code standards — each with the specific standard cited and a concrete corrective step — so a kitchen lead can fix problems before an inspector finds them. ## When to Use Invoke this skill when the user asks to: - Check whether a specific kitchen practice or setup is compliant - Prepare a station or shift for a health inspection - Diagnose why a violation was written up or a customer complaint occurred - Review a described food handling procedure (cooling, thawing, holding, prep) - Audit a new SOP or line change before rolling it out - Understand what corrective action a specific problem requires ## Inputs Required Before starting, collect: - **Situation description**: What is happening — the practice, incident, or setup being reviewed (as much detail as possible) - **Operation type**: Fast casual, QSR, ghost kitchen, food truck, etc. - **Menu risk profile**: Whether the operation handles raw proteins, TCS (time/temperature control for safety) foods, ready-to-eat items, allergens - **Jurisdiction (if known)**: State or local health authority — code specifics vary; default to FDA Food Code 2022 if unspecified - **Trigger for the check**: Routine audit / upcoming inspection / recent violation / customer complaint / incident - **Equipment available**: Thermometers, sanitizer type, handwash stations, cold/hot holding units in play If jurisdiction or equipment details are missing, apply FDA Food Code 2022 defaults and note the assumption. ## Instructions ### Step 1: Parse the Situation Into Discrete Practices Break the described situation into individual observable practices. A single description often contains 3–8 separate compliance points. Isolate each one — for example, "chicken thawing on the counter next to prepped salad" contains a thawing violation, a cross-contamination risk, and a potential cold-holding issue. ### Step 2: Screen Each Practice Against the Core ServSafe / Food Code Domains Evaluate every isolated practice across these domains: - **Time & Temperature Control (TCS)**: Cooking temps (poultry 165°F/15s, ground meat 155°F/17s, seafood/pork 145°F/15s), hot holding ≥135°F, cold holding ≤41°F, cooling (135°F→70°F within 2 hrs, 70°F→41°F within 4 more hrs — 6 hrs total), reheating to 165°F within 2 hrs - **Cross-Contamination**: Raw-above-ready-to-eat storage order, separate cutting boards/utensils, allergen segregation, no bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat food - **Personal Hygiene**: Handwashing triggers and technique (20s, warm water, soap), glove use, employee illness exclusion/restriction (Big 6 pathogens: Norovirus, Hepatitis A, Shigella, E. coli STEC, Salmonella Typhi, nontyphoidal Salmonella), no eating/drinking in prep areas - **Cleaning & Sanitizing**: Correct sanitizer concentration (chlorine 50–100 ppm, quat per manufacturer, iodine 12.5–25 ppm), 3-compartment sink sequence, contact time, wiping cloth storage in sanitizer bucket - **Facilities & Pest**: Handwash sink stocked and accessible (not blocked, not used for food/dishes), pest evidence, proper waste handling - **Time as a Public Health Control**: If used in place of temperature — documentation, 4-hour or 6-hour limits, discard timing ### Step 3: Classify Each Gap by Severity Assign every identified gap a severity level: - **Critical (Priority)**: Directly linked to foodborne illness — TCS temperature abuse, cross-contamination of ready-to-eat food, ill employee working, bare-hand contact with RTE, inadequate cooking. These are the violations that close kitchens. - **Major (Priority Foundation)**: Supports a critical control — no accessible thermometer, unlabeled sanitizer, no date marking, blocked handwash sink. - **Minor (Core)**: Best-practice or maintenance gaps — worn cutting board, uncovered floor storage, minor labeling issues. ### Step 4: Cite the Standard for Each Gap For every flagged gap, name the specific standard: the FDA Food Code section family (e.g., cooking temps §3-401, date marking §3-501.17, handwashing §2-301) or the ServSafe principle. Do not cite a section number you cannot support — if uncertain, state the standard in plain terms and label it as the applicable Food Code principle. ### Step 5: Rank Corrective Actions Order corrective steps by risk priority — all Critical gaps first, then Major, then Minor. For each corrective step provide: 1. **The fix**: The exact action to take right now 2. **The verification**: How to confirm it's corrected (measured temp, tested ppm, visual check) 3. **The prevention**: The SOP, log, or staff behavior change that stops recurrence ### Step 6: Build a Re-Inspection Checklist Produce a short pass/fail checklist the kitchen lead can walk the station with after corrections — one line per gap, phrased as a yes/no verification. ## Output Format - **Structure**: Situation summary → itemized gap findings (grouped by severity) → ranked corrective action plan → re-inspection checklist - **Length**: 700–1,100 words - **Format**: Findings as a structured list with severity tags and cited standards; corrective actions as a numbered priority list; checklist as pass/fail bullets - **Sections**: Situation Breakdown → Compliance Gaps (Critical / Major / Minor) → Ranked Corrective Actions → Re-Inspection Checklist - **Tone**: Certified food safety manager — direct, specific, non-alarmist; states the temp/ppm/time number every time rather than saying "properly" or "adequately" ## Quality Checklist Before delivering output, verify: - [ ] Every discrete practice in the situation has been isolated and evaluated — not just the most obvious one - [ ] Each flagged gap carries a severity tag (Critical / Major / Minor) and a cited standard or named principle - [ ] Every temperature, concentration, and time reference includes the actual number, not a vague qualifier - [ ] Corrective actions are ranked with all Critical items first - [ ] Each corrective action includes fix + verification + prevention - [ ] The re-inspection checklist has one verifiable line per identified gap ## Notes - When a description implies a temperature or time but does not state it, flag the missing measurement itself as a gap — inability to verify a control is a finding. - Local jurisdictions may adopt stricter thresholds (e.g., cold holding at 41°F vs. 45°F under older codes); note where the local authority could differ and default to the stricter standard. - The most common closable violations in fast casual/QSR are cold-holding temperature abuse, cross-contamination in walk-ins, and blocked or understocked handwash sinks — check these first even if not explicitly described. - If the situation involves a suspected foodborne illness or an ill employee, treat exclusion/restriction and reporting to the health authority as the first corrective action, ahead of all other fixes. --- ## How to use this skill This file is a Claude Code skill in [Anthropic's standard format](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/skills) — markdown with YAML frontmatter at the top. **Installing in Claude Code:** - `~/.claude/skills//SKILL.md` — auto-loads in every session anywhere on your machine (recommended for skills you'll use across multiple projects) - `/.claude/skills//SKILL.md` — auto-loads only when working in that project (recommended for project-specific skills) Restart Claude Code or open a new session to register. **Using in Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Gemini, or other AI tools:** 1. 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