With holiday parties’ right around the corner, especially Halloween being tomorrow, we decided to provide the community with a few basic food safety tips. These tips are to ensure that you and your guests have a wonderful time.
WASH: wash not only your hands but any surface that will come in contact with food. You should wash your hands with warm soapy water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling any food. Rinse fruits and vegetables thoroughly to remove any surface dirt. Do NOT rinse raw meat and poultry before cooking in order to avoid spreading bacteria to areas around the sink and countertops
SEPARATE: When shopping in the store, storing food in the refrigerator at home, or preparing meals, keep foods that won’t be cooked separate from raw eggs, meat, poultry or seafood. Consider using two different cutting boards, one for fruits and vegetables and the other for your meat/seafood products. Do NOT put cooked meat or other food that is ready to eat on an unwashed plate that has held any raw eggs, meat, poultry, seafood, or their juices.
COOK: You should always use a food thermometer when making meals to ensure that everything is cooked to a safe internal temperature. The safe zone for cooked food is above 165°F. Cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm. When making your own eggnog or other recipe calling for raw eggs, use pasteurized shell eggs, liquid or frozen pasteurized egg products, or powdered egg whites.
CHILL: Refrigerate leftovers and takeout foods—and any type of food that should be refrigerated, including pie—within two hours. When thawing frozen food remember that you should do it in a safe manner. This means that you thaw frozen food in the refrigerator, under cold running water, or in the microwave—NEVER at room temperature (sitting on the counter). Cook food thawed in cold water or in the microwave immediately. Allow enough time to properly thaw food. Don’t taste food that looks or smells questionable. When in doubt, throw it out!
Hopefully these tips will provide you with enough knowledge to have a safe and wonderful holiday season this year!
sources: foodsafety.gov fsis.usda.gov
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