Shellfish tag log and 90-day shellstock tag retention template

Every bag of live oysters, clams or mussels arrives with a tag. It says where the shellfish were harvested, when, and by whom, and who shipped them. If guests get sick weeks later, that tag is how the health department traces the harvest area and closes it. So the Food Code asks you to keep it attached until the bag is empty, write the date on it, and keep it for 90 days.

It's a simple rule that a lot of kitchens get wrong: the tag goes in the trash with the empty bag, or into a drawer in no order. This post gives you a receiving check, a filing system, a tag log and the rules behind them.

General information. Your state or local health department enforces its own edition of the Food Code, and shellfish rules can be stricter in states that harvest them. Section numbers below are from the FDA Food Code 2026.

Which shellfish this covers

The Food Code's molluscan shellfish are "any edible species of fresh or frozen oysters, clams, mussels, and scallops", except scallops that are only the shucked adductor muscle (the usual scallop you sear). Shellstock means live molluscan shellfish in the shell. Shucked shellfish in tubs and frozen half-shell product have their own labels, and the same keep-the-label rule applies.

Shrimp, crab and lobster aren't molluscan shellfish, so they don't have tags under this rule (they're still a major food allergen as crustacean shellfish).

The rules, in one table

Rule	What the Food Code says	Section
Approved source	Molluscan shellfish come from sources that follow the National Shellfish Sanitation Program (NSSP); shellfish received in interstate commerce come from shippers on the Interstate Certified Shellfish Shippers List.	§3-201.15
The tag	Shellfish arrive in nonreturnable containers with a legible tag or label that identifies the source, put on by the dealer.	§3-202.18(A)
No tag	A container with no tag, or a tag missing required information, is "subject to a hold order, as allowed by LAW, or seizure and destruction".	§3-202.18(C)
Condition	Shellstock arrive "reasonably free of mud, dead SHELLSTOCK, and SHELLSTOCK with broken shells." Dead shellstock with badly broken shells is discarded.	§3-202.17
Temperature	Shellfish may be received at the temperature set by the law that governs them (for shellstock, the NSSP), rather than the usual 41°F.	§3-202.11(B)
Original container	Shellfish stay in the container they came in until just before sale or preparation.	§3-203.11(A)
No mixing	Shellfish from one tagged container aren't mixed with shellfish from another with a different certification number, harvest date or growing area before a guest orders them.	§3-203.11(B)
Tag stays on	Tags stay attached to the container "until the container is empty".	§3-203.12(A)
Last-sold date	"The date when the last MOLLUSCAN SHELLFISH from the container is sold or served shall be recorded on the tag, label, or invoice".	§3-203.12(B)
90 days, in order	The tags, labels or invoices are kept "for 90 calendar days" from that date, in chronological order.	§3-203.12(C)
Display	Shellstock may be shown on drained ice or in a display container, as long as its source is identified and recorded the same way.	§3-203.11(C)

The 90 days run from the last-sold date, not the delivery date. A bag of oysters delivered on March 1 and finished on March 4 is kept until at least June 2.

Raw or undercooked shellfish on the menu also need a consumer advisory; our consumer advisory template covers the wording.

Receiving shellfish: a 60-second check

Add these lines to your receiving log for every shellfish delivery.

Shellfish receiving check

Date: …………… Vendor: ………………………… Received by: ……………

Check	Yes / No
Every bag, box or tub has a tag or label
Tag is legible and complete: harvester's certification number, harvest area and date, type and quantity of shellfish, and the same details for each dealer that handled them
Shipper is on the FDA's Interstate Certified Shellfish Shippers List (check new vendors)
Shellstock alive: shells closed or close when tapped, no strong odor
Reasonably free of mud, dead shellfish and broken shells
Temperature taken and written down: …………… °F
Shucked product: sell-by date (small containers) or shucked date (half-gallon and up) on the label

If a tag is missing: don't accept it. Hold the product apart, call the vendor, and ask for a tagged replacement. Shellfish without a tag can't be traced, and §3-202.18(C) puts it under a hold order or destruction.

The list of tag details comes from the Food Code's inspection guidance (Annex 5), which tells inspectors to look for "harvester's certification number, harvest waters and date, type and quantity of shellfish and similar information for each dealer".

Storing and serving

One bag at a time. Use one container until it's empty. If you have two harvest dates open, keep them in separate labeled bins, never poured together (§3-203.11(B)).
Keep the tag on the bag in the walk-in. Clip it to the bin if the bag goes into a perforated pan to drain.
Raw bar display: shellfish on drained ice for display can come out of the bag, but write on the display card or the log which tag they came from, so the source stays identified (§3-203.11(C)).
When the bag is empty: write the date on the tag right then, with a waterproof marker, and initial it.

The filing system

A shellfish tag is only useful if you can find it. The Food Code asks for tags "in chronological order correlated to the date that is recorded on the tag", so file them by the last-sold date.

A tag book: a binder with one page (or a clear sleeve) per week, newest at the back. Staple or tape each tag to the page for the week its bag was finished.
Or 14 envelopes: one per week, labeled with the week's dates, rotated. Before you empty the oldest one for reuse, check that the latest date written on its tags is more than 90 days ago.
Keep it near the walk-in office, not the line. Wet tags tear. Let a damp tag dry before filing.
Never throw a tag out early, even for a bag that was all discarded.

The shellfish tag log

The log doesn't replace the tags; it's the index. When a health department calls about a harvest area and date, you can answer in a minute.

[Café / restaurant name] — Shellfish tag log

Received	Vendor	Species	Harvest area	Harvest date	Harvester cert. #	Qty	Opened	Last sold / served	Tag filed (week)
[Mar 1]	[Vendor]	[Oysters, Blue Point]	[area as on tag]	[Feb 27]	[cert. #]	[100 ct]	[Mar 1]	[Mar 4]	[Week of Mar 2]

Keep until: [last-sold date + 90 days] · Weekly check by: ………………………… on [Monday]

The weekly two-minute check

Every [Monday], the kitchen manager:

[ ] Every open bag in the walk-in has its tag on
[ ] Every finished bag from last week has a tag, dated, in last week's sleeve
[ ] The log matches the tags filed
[ ] Tags whose last-sold date is more than 90 days ago are removed (shred them or keep longer if your health department asks)

When something goes wrong

Problem	What to do
Delivery arrives without tags	Refuse it, or hold it apart and call the vendor for tags before you use any
A tag fell off and you're not sure which bag	Don't guess. Keep the shellfish separate and call the vendor, who can match it to their records; ask your health department what to do if it can't be identified
A guest reports illness after eating shellfish	Find the tag by date on the log, keep the tag and any remaining product, and call your health department. Our incident report form covers what to write down
A recall or harvest-area closure	Check the log for that harvest area and date, pull matching product, and follow our food recall checklist (coming Oct 28)
You find tags thrown away	Retrain the team, add the tag check to closing, and record what happened in your manager log

Your shellfish tag checklist

[ ] Shellfish only from shippers on the Interstate Certified Shellfish Shippers List
[ ] Every delivery checked for tags at the door
[ ] One container open at a time, never mixed
[ ] Tag stays on the container until it's empty
[ ] Last-sold date written on the tag the moment the bag is empty
[ ] Tags filed by that date, kept 90 days
[ ] A tag log as the index, checked weekly
[ ] Consumer advisory on the menu for raw or undercooked shellfish

Where Mays fits

The tag photo and the log line, from a phone. Build a Shellfish tag form under Tasks → Types with a Photo field for the tag, a Vendor field, a Text field for the species and harvest area, Date / time fields (Date only) for the harvest date and the last-sold date, and a Text field for the week it's filed under. Put it on the closing checklist (Log today's finished shellfish bags). See Building custom forms.
The index. Tasks → Data lists every submission with a column per field, and Export CSV downloads them, so finding a harvest area and date takes a search. Photos aren't in the table or the export; open the completed task to see the tag. See Task Data.
The weekly check. A Weekly checklist with the four checks above, as Checkbox tasks. See Creating a checklist template.
The delivery itself. Post the vendor's invoice under Inventory → Invoices; the posted invoice shows on the Receiving board. See Receiving deliveries.

What Mays doesn't do: a photo in Mays isn't the tag. Keep the paper tags filed for 90 days as the Food Code asks, unless your health department tells you a photo record is acceptable. Mays doesn't know which shippers are on the FDA's list, and it doesn't remind you when a tag's 90 days are up.

The tag outlives the oyster

Check the tag at the door, keep it on the bag, write the date the moment the bag is empty, and file it by that date for 90 days. It's a few seconds per bag, and it's the one record that lets a health department trace an outbreak back to the water it came from.

Start your free trial: 30 days, every module, no card needed. Or book a walkthrough and we'll build your shellfish tag form and weekly check with you.