According to the ServSafe Manager curriculum and the FDA Food Code, refrigerated storage follows a strict
"top-to-bottom" hierarchy based on the minimum internal cooking temperatures of each food. This organization is a vital preventative measure against cross-contamination. Pathogens from raw animal proteins can drip or leak onto other foods; therefore, the food that requires the highest cooking temperature to kill those pathogens must be placed at the very bottom. Raw poultry, which includes whole or ground chicken and turkey, must be cooked to a minimum internal temperature of $165^{\circ}F$ ($74^{\circ}C$). Because it requires the highest temperature of all common proteins, it is always stored on the lowest shelf.
The standard storage order from top to bottom is: (1) Ready-to-eat food, (2) Seafood (requires $145^{\circ} F$), (3) Whole cuts of beef and pork (requires $145^{\circ}F$), (4) Ground meat and ground fish (requires
$155^{\circ}F$), and (5) Whole and ground poultry (requires $165^{\circ}F$). Salmon steaks (Option D) and raw pork (Option A) would be stored above ground beef (Option B), and all of them would be stored above raw poultry. Managers must verify this shelf order daily to ensure that gravity does not cause a "drip- contamination" event where raw juices from poultry contaminate meats that will be cooked to a lower temperature, or worse, contaminate ready-to-eat produce that will not be cooked at all.