Bare wood shelves do not meet the Food Code anywhere they get splashed, soiled or need frequent cleaning, and wood may not touch unpackaged food at all except for a short list of uses such as hard maple cutting boards and bakers’ tables. Sealed or painted wood in a dry storage room is not banned by name, so whether it passes is up to your inspector, and that is why most kitchens build their storage from stainless steel or coated wire instead.
If you are planning new storage, our commercial kitchen wall shelving is all metal, and this guide covers what the code says, where wood causes trouble and what to use in each part of the kitchen.
What the Food Code says about wood
The FDA Food Code treats a shelf in two different ways, depending on what touches it.
- If unpackaged food sits on the shelf, such as bread cooling or produce taken out of its box, the shelf is a food-contact surface. Section 4-101.17 says wood and wood wicker may not be used as a food-contact surface. The exceptions are hard maple or an equally hard, close-grained wood for cutting boards, cutting blocks, bakers’ tables and utensils such as rolling pins, and whole, uncut raw fruits, vegetables and nuts in the shell, which may stay in the wood shipping containers they arrived in until they are used.
- If the shelf only holds packaged goods, it is a nonfood-contact surface. Section 4-101.19 says nonfood-contact surfaces that are exposed to splash, spillage or other food soiling, or that need frequent cleaning, must be corrosion-resistant, nonabsorbent and smooth.
Virginia’s adoption of the code (12VAC5-421-1040 and 12VAC5-421-1060) uses the same rules, and most states adopt them in some form. Your local health department has the final say on what it accepts in your kitchen.
Where wood shelves cause problems
These are the places where wood runs into the nonabsorbent and cleanable rules, based on common practice in commercial kitchens.
- Over or next to sinks and in the dish area. Every shelf here gets splashed, and bare wood soaks up water and swells.
- In walk-in coolers and freezers. Cold rooms are damp, condensation forms on stored product, and wood that stays wet can stain and grow mold.
- On or near the cook line. Grease and steam settle on every surface, and wood holds them in its grain.
- Anywhere the finish has worn. Paint and varnish chip, and the bare wood underneath is no longer smooth or nonabsorbent.
- Anywhere unpackaged food is set down. Under section 4-101.17 that makes the shelf a food-contact surface, and most wood is not allowed there.
Wood also cracks at the joints as it swells and dries, and cracks are hard to keep clean.
Where wood is still allowed
Wood has not disappeared from commercial kitchens. Hard maple cutting boards, butcher blocks and bakers’ tables are allowed by the same code section that limits other wood. Produce can stay in its wood shipping crate until you use it. Display shelving in a dining room or behind the bar that holds only sealed bottles is a different situation from a kitchen shelf, but ask your inspector before you build it into your plans.
What to use instead
Most kitchens use three kinds of metal storage. These details come from our own product pages.
- Stainless wall shelves for the kitchen and dish area. Our solid wall shelves are 18 gauge stainless and come in sizes from 10 to 96 in. long. The two tier version is 12 in. deep in 24, 36 or 60 in. lengths, with four L-shaped brackets included. For wet ware, the tubular wall shelf is 18 in. deep in 48 or 60 in. lengths and lets water drip through.
- Epoxy coated wire for walk-ins and damp rooms. The epoxy wall shelf is rated by its page to hold up to 450 lb and comes with mounting hardware for concrete walls. Our epoxy wire shelves for shelving units hold up to 850 lb each at 48 in. and shorter, and 600 lb each at 54 in. and longer.
- Chrome wire for dry storage. Our chrome shelving pages say chrome is for dry storage only, and point to epoxy for walk-ins and damp areas.
For heavy sacks and cases, a low platform such as a dunnage rack keeps stock off the floor without a shelf to lift it onto. Food Code section 3-305.11 asks for food to be stored at least 6 inches above the floor, with a few exceptions.
If you already have wood shelves
- Ask your inspector before the next inspection, not during it. Some will accept sealed wood for packaged dry goods and some will not.
- Keep them out of splash zones, cold rooms and the cook line.
- Use them only for packaged product, never for food out of its packaging.
- Replace shelves that are cracked, swollen, soft or have lost their finish. Damaged wood is the hardest case to argue for.
What to buy
The wall shelving page linked near the top covers solid, two tier, tubular and pot rack styles. Compare chrome and epoxy units in wire shelving, and floor platforms in dunnage racks. For a prep surface under the shelves, see our work tables. Our stainless wall shelves are NSF certified, and freight to the 48 contiguous states is included in the price.