Safeguarding Your Food
Safety
Every year in this country, an estimated 1
million people suffer from cases of food borne illness. Some cases are
violent and even result in death. Of course this is commonly known as
"food poisoning."
The culprit is food that has
dangerously high levels of bacteria due to improper cooking or handling.
Food safety is usually taken for granted by the buying public but
everyone's attention was recently directed to food poisoning involving
some meat that was undercooked.
Cooking
It was determined that the problem never would have happened if the meat
had been cooked properly. E.Coli 0157.H7 is a potent virus, but it can be
completely destroyed when the meat is fully cooked.
Storage
It is important for consumers to take an all-around safety approach to
purchasing, storing and preparing both traditional and new meat and
poultry products. Ultimately, consumers and food handlers bear the
responsibility for keeping food safe once it leaves the shop.
Handling
According to the Department of Agriculture, about 85 percent of food borne
illness cases could be avoided each year if consumers would handle food
properly. The most common food borne illnesses are caused by a combination
of bacteria, naturally present in the environment, and food handling
mistakes.
Ironically, these are also the easiest types of food borne illnesses to
prevent. Proper cooking or processing of raw meat and poultry kills
bacteria that can cause food borne illness.
Straight to the fridge
When you're out, grocery shop last, take food straight home to the
refrigerator. And never leave food in a hot car! Don't buy anything you
won't use before the use-by date. Don't buy food in poor condition.
Make sure refrigerated food is cold to the touch. Frozen food should be
rock-solid. Canned goods should be free of dents, cracks or bulging lids
which can indicate a serious food poisoning threat.
The performance and maintenance of your refrigerator is of the utmost
importance. Check the temperature of your refrigerator with an appliance
thermometer. To keep bacteria in check, the refrigerator should run at 40
degrees F; the freezer unit at 0 degrees F.
Generally, keep your refrigerator as cold as possible without freezing
your milk or lettuce. When you prepare food, keep everything clean and
thaw out any frozen food you plan to prepare in your refrigerator.
Thawing
Take it out of the freezer in advance and place it in the refrigerated
section of your refrigerator. Always wash your hands in hot soapy water
before preparing and handling any food as well as after you use the
bathroom, change diapers, handle pets, etc.
Dirty Cloths
Remember, too, that bacteria can live in your kitchen towels, sponges and
dishcloths. Wash them often and replace the dishcloths and sponges you use
regularly every few weeks.
Wash everything really well
Be absolutely sure that you keep all raw meats, poultry and fish and their
juices away from other food. For instance, wash your hands, your cutting
board and knife in hot soapy water after cutting up the chicken and before
dicing salad ingredients.
Plastic rather than wood
It is best to use plastic cutting tools rather than wooden ones where
bacteria can hide in grooves. Don't take your food out of the freezer and
leave it on the kitchen counter to thaw.
Marinate in the fridge
This is extremely dangerous since the bacteria can grow in the outer
layers of the food before the inside thaws. It is wise to do your
marinating in the refrigerator too.
For your convenience,
we have prepared a list of search terms used in order of popularity,
to find more pages on this subject:
Searches completed in December 2004
Searches done in December 2004
Count Search Term
46169 food safety
779 food safety training
261 holiday food safety
241 food safety article
231 food safety and sanitation
231 food safety tip
227 restaurant food safety
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185 food safety quiz
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152 food safety jobs
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