In catering, audit preparation usually happens in the kitchen, while transport is waved through with 'the vehicle is clean'. The Food Hygiene Regulation (Official Gazette 17.12.2011, no. 28145) covers transport separately in Article 13: vehicles and containers are kept clean, different foods carried together are adequately separated, and the vehicle or container must be able to hold the food at a suitable temperature and allow that temperature to be monitored. Article 18 also requires the cold chain not to be broken. The text gives no figure for hot meals.
| Group | Expected on the road | If placed in one volume |
|---|---|---|
| Hot dish | Stay hot | Affected by the cold side, loses heat faster |
| Soup | Stay hot | The first to drop when the lid opens |
| Salad and raw sides | Stay cold | Warms next to the hot group |
| Dessert and milk puddings | Stay cold | Quality loss becomes visible |
A set menu sends all four groups on the same run, and their targets pull in opposite directions. Hot and cold travel in separate insulated volumes, with frozen plates on the cold side; sharing a vehicle causes no problem, sharing a container does. On a day with more cold items the containers fall short and the salad ends up beside the hot group; plan the menu together with container capacity.
Keep records at three points at least: leaving the kitchen, loading, and delivery before service. If the journey between them is unrecorded, use a logger, or at least write down departure and arrival times. On one run, measure the hot and cold groups separately at departure and at delivery; the gap shows whether your container setup fits the menu.