Final answer:
Ready-to-eat food must be stored above raw food to prevent cross-contamination and kept out of the temperature danger zone to ensure safety from bacteria.
Step-by-step explanation:
Ready-to-eat food should be stored separately and above raw food to prevent cross-contamination. This is essential because raw foods, such as eggs, poultry, and meat, often contain harmful bacteria like Salmonella that can be easily transferred to ready-to-eat items. To maintain safety, it's crucial to ensure that raw foods do not come into contact with foods that will not be cooked further, such as fruits, vegetables, and bread. Furthermore, all perishable foods should be kept out of the temperature danger zone, which is between 4 and 60 degrees C (40 and 140 degrees F), to inhibit the rapid growth of bacteria. Proper cleaning of utensils and surfaces after handling raw food is also critical to food safety.