In the Home

Germs that make you sick can spread easily in the kitchen – on your hands, on countertops, on cutting boards, dishes and utensils, even on food. You can prevent the spread of germs that cause illness by learning how to handle and prepare food safely. The recipe for food safety at home has five main ingredients: clean, separate, cook, chill and check.*

Clean

• Wash hands for 20 seconds with soap and water before, during and after preparing food.
• Keep counters, dishes, cutting boards and utensils clean by washing them with hot, soapy water between each use.
• Wash fruits and vegetables well before eating and preparing them. The FDA offers suggestions on safe handling of raw produce.

Separate

Germs on raw foods, like meats and eggs, can spread to ready-to-eat foods. Separate ready-to-eat from raw foods (and their juices) in the shopping cart, the refrigerator and while preparing food.

Cook

Food is safely cooked when the temperature inside is high enough to kill germs that can cause illness. You can’t always tell if food is safely cooked by looking at it. To be sure food is cooked to the right temperatures you need:

• A food thermometer.
• To look at a temperature chart to find out the correct internal cooking temperatures for the foods you cook.

Chill

• Keeping food at 40º F or below keeps disease-causing germs from growing in food. A refrigerator thermometer will help you know that your refrigerator is set at the correct temperature to keep your food safe.
• Put raw meat, poultry, eggs and other foods that spoil easily in the refrigerator or freezer as soon as you get them home from the store.
• Raw meats, poultry, eggs, cooked foods and fresh-cut fruits should not be kept at room temperature for more than 2 hours (one hour if it is 90º F or more).
• Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours (one hour if it is 90º F or more). Put them in small, shallow containers to make sure they cool quickly.
• Hot foods should be put into shallow containers and refrigerated right away. They do not need to cool to room temperature before putting in the refrigerator.
• Never defrost foods on the countertop. Use a microwave, cold running water or the refrigerator to defrost frozen foods.
• Review a cold storage chart to learn how long items can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer.

Check

• Check canned goods. Do not buy bulging or dented cans.
• Check eggs for cracks. Do not buy cracked or dirty eggs.
• Check expiration and “use by” dates.
• Check the time to make sure that foods aren’t kept at room temperature too long.
• Check the temperature. Check refrigerator thermometers to make sure the temperature is cold enough – 40º F or below. Check freezer thermometers to make sure that your freezer is cold enough – 0º F or below.
• Check out these food safety myths.

Other Resources

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Food Safety and Inspection Service
• Government Food Safety Information
• Medline Plus
• Partnership for Food Safety Education

*Adapted from the Partnership for Food Safety Education

cp  12/22/11