How to Keep Food Safe

According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 76 million people suffer from food-borne illnesses each year in the United States. While some foodborne illnesses cannot be prevented by the consumer, most of these illnesses can.

There are many prevention tips that a person can follow to make sure they avoid a foodborne illness. Some of the most common will be discussed below.

Only Purchase Safe Foods from the Store

Foodborne illness avoidance starts at the grocery store. There are many things that a person should be mindful of while grocery shopping.

First, pick up refrigerated and heated food at end of your shopping trip. This will allow less time for these foods to either warm up or cool down to temperatures in which germs can grow before you travel home.

Also, raw meat, poultry, and seafood juices can sometimes leak out of their packaging. Place these products in separate plastic bags before putting them in your cart to restrain the juices from leaking onto other foods. These juices are places were germs can thrive and be easily spread.

Only buy eggs that are refrigerated at the store. Before you purchase the eggs, open the carton to make sure none of them are broken as these juices can also cause illness.

Another place that germs can live is in cracked and bent jars or cans. Inspect them before purchasing to make sure they are still in perfect form.

Clean

Cleaning your hands, food, and the products you use to prepare food is essential in preventing diseases. Wash your hands under warm water for at least 20 seconds before and after eating or preparing food. Washing your hands in-between preparing different foods is also important to avoid cross contamination. It is essential that you wash your hands after handling raw meat, poultry, or eggs.

Some surfaces to make sure you keep clean include: cookware, tableware, cutting boards, kitchen utensils, and countertops.

Separate Foods

Uncooked foods, particularly uncooked meat, should be kept from other foods. To prevent contaminating other foods, use separate cutting boards for vegetables and meat. Do not use the same utensils to touch both cooked and uncooked food items.

Do not continue to use a dish towel until it has been washed if it is used to clean up spilled food items.

Keep Foods out of the Danger Zone

Germs can live in foods between the temperatures of 40 F and 140 F. In order to keep food safe, make sure you cook it properly.

To be safe, food should be cooked to at least 160 F to assure all microorganisms are killed.

Use a food thermometer to check the internal temperature of meat, as brown meat does not always mean it has been cooked thoroughly. Wash food thermometers in-between uses and among different food items.

If you need to thaw a food item, thaw it in the refrigerator (a couple of days prior to use) or run it under cold water. If you need to thaw food immediately, use the microwave. It is dangerous to thaw food at room temperature.

To prevent germs from growing on raw meat, poultry, eggs, cooked food, or cut fresh fruit, it should be placed in the refrigerator or freezer within two hours. If the external temperature is more than 90 F, than this time should be reduced to one hour.

Prevention is Primary

In order to avoid foodborne illnesses, follow these suggested prevention tips.