Final answer:
Food items requiring time control for safety must be labeled with a 4-hour window for safe use or consumption to prevent rapid bacterial growth.
Step-by-step explanation:
Food items that must be time controlled for food safety, such as smokey tomato butter, must be clearly labeled with a start and end time of no more than 4 hours. This control is vital because bacteria generally multiply most rapidly at temperatures between 4 and 60 degrees C (40 and 140 degrees F).
Perishable foods left within this temperature range for more than two hours can become dangerous to eat due to rapid bacterial growth. For food safety, these products should either be consumed within this timeframe or properly refrigerated to prevent the spread of foodborne diseases.
Smokey tomato butter and other food items that must be time controlled for food safety should be clearly labeled with a start and end time of no more than 2 hours. This is because perishable foods that remain within the temperature range of 4 to 60 degrees Celsius (40 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit) for more than two hours may become dangerous to eat due to rapid bacterial growth.
Therefore answer is A) 2.