Patent ID: 7232062

Claim:
A product status system for monitoring the status and storage location of a prepared food product, which comprises: a processing circuit; a food product status switch associated with a storage location, the food product status switch being coupled to the processing circuit; a food product status indicator associated with the storage location, the food product status indicator being coupled to the processing circuit, the food product status indicator having at least a first state which indicates that the prepared food product is stored at the associated storage location and at least a second state which indicates that the prepared food product is not stored at the associated storage location, the state of the food product status indicator associated with the storage location changing from the second state to the first state in response to the prepared food product being supplied to the storage location and the food product status switch being selectively operated by a user, the state of the food product status indicator associated with the storage location changing from the first state to the second state in response to the storage location no longer containing prepared food product and the food product status switch being selectively operated by the user; a storage timer associated with the storage location, the storage timer being coupled to the processing circuit, the storage timer being initiated in response to the food product status indicator changing from the second state to the first state, the storage timer counting a storage time, the storage time being representative of the duration of time that the prepared food product has been stored at the storage location, the food product status indicator having at least a third state which indicates that the storage time exceeds an acceptable food product hold time, the processing circuit comparing the storage time with the acceptable food product hold time, the state of the food product status indicator associated with the storage location changing to the third state in response to the storage time exceeding the acceptable food product hold time.