Health Tip-Food Safety

Food Safety

Food bourn illnesses are in the news a lot lately and with Thanksgiving right around the corner, I thought it would be a great time to go over food safety preparation, cooking and storage techniques. Keep your family and friends safe by following these tips from the USDA.

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Food Handling

1. Wash your hands with warm soapy water for 20 seconds and dry them with a clean cloth before you begin cooking or preparing food.
2. Keep raw fish, meat and poultry and their juices away from all other foods.
3. When using raw fish, meat or poultry wash your countertops, utensils and cutting boards with hot soapy after each step in a recipe.
4. Never put cooked meat or poultry on the same dish that held the raw meat and poultry.
5. Sanitize countertops, cutting boards and utensils in a solution of 1 teaspoon unscented bleach and 1 quart water.
6. Marinate meat and poultry in the refrigerator.
7. Cut away any area on produce that looks damaged or bruised. 
8. Throw away and produce that looks rotten.
9. Always wash your fruit and vegetables under running water before eating or cutting. (Do not use soap!)
10. Dry produce using either paper or clean  cloth towels.
11. Store all pre-cut produce in the refrigerator.
12. Store strawberries, lettuce, mushrooms and herbs in refrigerator and wash just before using.

Thawing Methods

1. Never thaw meat or poultry on the kitchen counter.
2. Thaw frozen fish, meat and poultry in a covered dish in the refrigerator. Make sure the juices do not drip onto other foods.
3. Thawing fish, meat and poultry in a sealed plastic bag in a bowl of cold water is a quicker method than using the refrigerator. Make sure to change the cold water at least every 30 minutes and cook food immediately after thawing.
4. Thawing food in the microwave is another option. Use a low setting or a pre-programmed setting and watch food carefully. Cook immediately after thawing.

Cooking Methods (always use a meat thermometer when checking temperatures)

1. Beef, lamb, pork and veal should be cooked to an internal temperature of 145 degrees.
2. Ground beef, lamb, pork and veal should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees.
3. Poultry needs to be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

Serving Foods

1. Keep all hot foods at 140 degrees or warmer. 
2. Keep all cold foods at 40 degrees or colder.
3. Do not leave perishable foods out for longer than 2 hours at room temperature. (If the outside temperature is over 90 degrees do not leave food out for more than 1 hour.

Storing Food

1. Refrigerate or freeze perishable foods promptly.
   
2. Refrigerators should be kept at 40 degrees and freezers should be kept at 0 degrees.
3. To refrigerate leftover foods, place them in a covered food storage container with a cover or place food on a dish and cover with foil or plastic wrap. Refrigerate immediately.
4. For best results when freezing leftovers seal with a food sealer. You may also use a freezer bag, freezer paper or heavy foil.
5. Store eggs in the carton on a shelf in the refrigerator.
6. Use cooked leftovers within 4 days.
7. Re-heat leftovers to an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

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