National Food Safety Education Month is in September. This is a great time to bring awareness and educate ourselves and others about food safety and ways to prevent food poisoning. This years focus is around preventing cross contamination. You can help protect yourself and others by following these four simple steps, Clean, Separate, Cook and Chill. Let’s take a closer look.
Clean:
• Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with hot soapy water before, during and after preparing foods and before eating.
• Always wash your hands after handling uncooked meats, chicken and other poultry, seafood, or eggs.
• After preparing foods, make sure to wash your utensils, cutting boards, and countertops with hot soapy water.
• Rinse fresh vegetables and fruits under water before prepping and eating.
Separate:
• Keep raw meat, poultry and seafood separate from other foods when you go grocery shopping.
• When storing refrigerated goods, make sure to store all raw meats, poultry, seafood, and eggs separately, in sealed containers to prevent cross-contamination.
• For raw meat, poultry, and seafood, use one cutting board or plate. For produce, bread, and other foods that won't be cooked, use a different cutting board or plate.
• Never wash raw poultry, meat, or eggs.
Cook:
• To ensure that food is cooked to a safe internal temperature, use a food thermometer.
• When reheating, use a food thermometer to make sure that microwaved food reaches 165°F.
Chill:
• Know when to discard food before it spoils and keep your refrigerator and freezer at 40°F or lower.
• Keep a thermometer inside your refrigerator to check the temperature if it doesn't have one built in.
• Package warm or hot food into clean containers and then refrigerate.
• Meat, seafood, dairy, cut fruit, some vegetables, and cooked leftovers should all be refrigerated within two hours.
• Thaw frozen food safely in the refrigerator, in cold water, or in the microwave. Never thaw food on the counter.
Now that you have four effective ways of preventing foodborne illness, youre good to get cooking! If you have any questions regarding the purchase of new foodservice equipment, we are happy to help.
