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Washing Hands and Surfaces Food Temperature
Exercise - Identifying Food Safety Challenges: Here are some common situations where
Cooked food is safe only after it’s been
Washing your hands with soap and water is heated to a high enough temperature to kill foodborne illness might result. For each situation, identify the problem and how it could have been prevented.
your first line of defense against the spread harmful bacteria. The temperature varies for What was the problem? How should it have been han-
of germs and disease. Situation: dled?
different products. You can download a food Joe took the raw chicken outside
temperature chart at: http://www.foodsafety.
Wash your hands the right way—for 20 gov/keep/charts/mintemp.html. and put it on the grill, then set
seconds with soap and running water. down the plate. When the chicken
was done, he put it on the plate and
Wash surfaces and utensils after each use Use a food thermometer to make sure took it inside.
with hot, soapy water or a bleach cleaning foods meet the minimum temperature
solution. (especially meat, poultry, and egg Paul and his friends had a pizza for
Wash fruits and veggies—but not meat, products.) supper. The next morning they ate
the leftovers out of the box that had
poultry, or eggs. Cut away damaged Keep food hot after cooking been left on the counter overnight.
portions, rinse under water, and pat dry. (at 140°F or above).
Kara took out a package of frozen
Microwave food thoroughly ground beef and set it on the count-
(to 165°F). er to thaw. She came back several
Chill and Refrigerate Cross Contamination hours later to check on it.
Illness-causing bacteria can grow in some foods Never put ready-to-eat food (food that doesn’t Toni baked a chicken for an hour
within two hours unless you refrigerate them. If you need to be cooked) like lettuce, on a surface that at 375° F like she always did. This
have food set out at a picnic on a hot day, it only held raw meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs. The time it looked a little undercooked,
takes one hour for foods to be spoiled and bad to eat. juices and remains of the uncooked foods can but she didn’t think it would be a
problem.
Refrigerate perishable foods within two hours spread bacteria to the other food and make you Austin wiped down the sink with a
Never thaw or marinate foods on the counter sick. Stopping cross-contamination is simple: sponge after putting leftovers down
Use separate cutting boards and plates for
Know when to throw out leftovers There may be the disposal. Without stopping, he
a bad smell or evidence of mold, but sometimes produce and for meat, poultry, seafood, and wiped down the counters and the
there is no physical sign that the food is bad. eggs. stove.
Keep meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs
separate from all other foods at the grocery. Potentially Hazardous Foods
You can download a food storage Keep meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs Certain foods need special handling to make them safe to eat. Keeping them at a
chart at: http://www.foodsafety. separate from all other foods in the fridge. specific temperatures for a certain period of time is critical for these foods:
gov/keep/charts/storagetimes.html Always store these products below ready-to- Cooked animal and vegetable foods
eat food so there’s no chance of raw juices Raw seed sprouts Cut tomatoes
dripping onto the other foods. Cut melons Garlic-in-oil mixtures
Cut leafy greens
