Safety Tips

Clean: Wash hands and surfaces often;
Always wash hands with warm water and soap before handling food. Thoroughly wash with hot, soapy water all surfaces that come in contact with raw meat, poultry, fish, and eggs before moving on to the next step in food preparation. Consider using paper towels to clean kitchen surfaces. If you use dishcloths, wash them often in the hot cycle of your washing machine. Keep other surfaces, such as faucets and counter tops, clean by washing with hot, soapy water.


Separate: Don’t cross-contaminate;
Do not use the same plate and utensils that held the raw product to serve the cooked product. Any bacteria present in the raw meat or juices can contaminate the safely cooked product. Serve cooked products on clean plates, using clean utensils and clean hands. When buying foods, separate raw meat, poultry, and seafood from other foods in your grocery-shopping cart. Place these foods in plastic bags to prevent their juices from dripping onto other foods. It is also best to separate these foods from other foods at check out and in your grocery bags. When putting your foods in the refrigerator place raw meat, poultry, and seafood in containers or sealed plastic bags to prevent their juices from dripping onto other foods. Also store them on the bottom shelf so that if they do leak they don’t get on everything else.


Cook: Cook to proper temperatures;
Use a food thermometer which measures the internal temperature of cooked meat, poultry and egg dishes, to make sure that the food is cooked to a safe internal temperature. When using a food thermometer, it is important to wash the probe after each use with hot, soapy water before reinserting it into a food. For proper cooking temperatures see chart below.

Chill:
Refrigerate promptly. Refrigeration slows bacterial growth. Bacteria grow most rapidly in the range of temperatures between 40 and 140°F. A refrigerator set at 40°F or below will protect most foods. Refrigerators should be set to maintain a temperature of 40°F or below. An appliance thermometer can be kept in the refrigerator to monitor the temperature. This can be critical in the event of a power outage. When the power goes back on, if the refrigerator is still 40 °F, the food is safe. Foods held at temperatures above 40°F for more than 2 hours should not be consumed. Divide large amounts of leftovers into shallow containers for quicker cooling in the refrigerator. Use or discard refrigerated food on a regular basis.

*Info courtesy of the United States Department of Agriculture- FSIS