Food Safety at Home

(YouTube link)

You would be surprised by how many people violate basic food safety rules. Save yourself a trip to the hospital and try to put these guidelines into practice.

1. Wash your hands before, after, and while you are handling food in the kitchen.
2. Rinse fresh vegetables.
3. Wash bottles and canned foods before opening, to prevent bacteria from getting into you food.
4. Keep meat separate in your grocery cart and shopping bags.
5. Put thawing and marinating food on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator. This prevents spilling onto food, if it were placed on a higher shelf. This is also a food safety tip for restaurants, and most often violated.
6. Thaw and marinate meat in the refrigerator.
7. Use two cutting boards - one for meats and the other for vegetables.
8. Use a meat thermometer to ensure that they are properly cooked.
9. Cook eggs thoroughly; especially now-a-days.
10. Never eat raw eggs or anything with raw eggs in it.
11. Whenever cooking frozen meals, follow the directions on the package.
12. Label your leftovers with the date.
13. When in doubt (of a food being fresh), throw it out.

Another food safety rule that wasn't mentioned was refrigerator and freezer temperatures. The ideal temperature for your refrigerator is 34° F to 41° F. The ideal temperature for bacterial growth is 42° F and 140° F. You can find refrigerator thermometers at most grocery stores.

I will be taking a short break, and will return  November 29th.