Hello there
According to the Washington Restaurant Association, the rules are
pretty simple:
"1. Store tea bags in a dark, cool and dry place away from strong
odors and moisture. Do not refrigerate.
2. Never hold finished brewed tea for more than twelve hours at room
temperature. Discard any unused tea after twelve hours.
3. Brew only enough tea that you reasonably expect to sell within a
few hours.
4. To protect tea flavor and to avoid bacterial contamination and
growth, clean and sanitize tea brewing, storage and dispensing
equipment at least once a day.
5. For any method described, use a calibrated thermometer each week to
make sure that brewing water in your equipment meets the recommended
temperature." (a minimum of 195F as mentioned elsewhere on this page.)
http://www.wrahome.com/info_tea.html - Quote from website of
Washington Restaurant Association
As for bacterial dangers from the tea leaves themselves:
"As a result of the process which raw tea undergoes in production, the
finished leaf is relatively free of bacteria...If the storage,
brewing, and sanitation recommendations in the "Tea Brewing Manual"
are followed, the end product will almost certainly be consumable
without danger of illness. This statement assumes that the preparation
area has not become a cross-contamination hazard from outside sources
and that personnel practice proper hand washing techniques." - Quote
from the same page as above.
If salmonilla or other bacteria are present, it would more than likely
come from cross contamination. One source may be the ice used in
serving the tea. "Ice chest or coolers must be sanitized daily. Ice
must be transported in such a manner as to be protected against
contamination. The ice scoop shall be stored and handled in a sanitary
manner. Keep ice coolers closed after each use and monitor ice
coolers..."
Quote from "Foodborn Illness in Nursing Homes"
http://www.cravencounty.com/documents/HTH_Home%20Sweet....pdf - A PDF
file, Acrobat Reader needed.
You realize there may be minor points of difference between various
state restaurant regulatory agencies regarding the subject.
This website from Kansas State University indicates that coliform
bacteria my be a bigger problem than salmonilla. It also provides
another set of guidlines for preparing and serving ice tea in
restaurants: - " The tea industry recommends that iced tea be brewed
at 195 F for 3-5 minutes, that tea be stored for no longer than 8
hours, and that the tea brewer, storage dispenser, and faucet be
cleaned daily. These guidelines for the preparation and storage of
iced tea are consistent with available data and are likely to reduce
the coliform contamination of iced tea.
However, there has been only one known case of digestive illness
connected to ice tea. - "The CDC has only one reported instance of
gastrointestinal illness which may have been caused by iced tea
consumption. A review of data from the Foodborne Outbreak Surveillance
System from 1973-1991 has shown that none of the 9,502 foodborne
outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness can be clearly linked to iced
tea."- quote from the same website as above.
So to provide a summary here, the CDC points out that tea is a
beverage with little history of disease transmission. The CDC says
that tea could be contaminated with bacteria at any step in its
production,from growing to steeping, and storage. While tea leaves can
become contaminated with coliform bacteria, the most probable cause of
the introduction of bacteria to the tea is foodhandling errors.
"To support this, the Tea Association has shown that tea brewed in a
clean urn at 175 F or higher and stored at room temperature had no
detectable coliform counts during the first 16 hours of storage. Thus,
if the tea is brewed at an appropriate temperature, storage conditions
and/or cleaning and disinfection of the tea dispenser becomes the main
areas that could lead to contamination." - another quote from the
Kansas state website.
So it would seem that restaurant concerns about bacteria and ice tea
are more about cross contamination and maintaining equipment than they
are about the beverage itself. Please note that the information
provided deals with unsweetened ice tea. There is no separate
reference to the handling of sweetened and un-sweetened tea and as
long as guidelines are followed, there should be no difference in the
permitted or recommended 'keeping' life.
Search - Google
Terms - ice tea, iced tea, ice/d tea restaurant guidlines, food
safety, food safety regulations, bacterial cross contamination,
salmonilla +in ice/d tea, salmonilla
If I may clarify anything before you rate the answer, please ask.
A non-sweetened tea drinker
digsalot |
