Avoid Food Poisoning with General Safety

Bacteria that causes food-borne illnesses are present in many foods. Fortunately with proper handling and cooking, you can avoid food poisoning.

Safety Guidelines to Avoid Food Poisoning

• The temperature in your refrigerator should be between 35 and 40 degrees F. Your freezer should be 0 degrees F. or below.
• Thaw meat, fish and poultry in the refrigerator or microwave. If you use the microwave it should be cooked immediately after it has been thawed.
• Once cooked food should be held at a temperature above 140 degrees F. (hot) or quickly cooled and kept below 40 degrees F. In between these two temps is where bacteria thrives. Perishable foods should not sit in this danger zone for more than 2 hours.
• Keep raw animal products and their juices separate from other foods. In order to do this, some good ideas include:
• Place raw meat on a plate in the refrigerator to avoid dripping juices as the meat thaws (or sits fresh)
• Wash all kitchen surfaces with hot soapy water that come in contact with raw meat, poultry, fish and eggs (cutting board, knives, countertop, hands, etc)
• Use a clean container to hold cooked meat, not the one that held the raw meat
• Always discard any marinade that meat, fish, poultry sat in unless it is thoroughly cooked before consuming.

Avoid food poisoning by practicing safe food handling in your kitchen. It becomes automatic once you know the rules and develop habits.

Avoid Food Poisoning with Meats

In order to avoid food poisoning there are certain safe handling/cooking guidelines that need to be followed. Here are some suggestions (no—more than just “suggestions,” rather “musts”) to avoid food poisoning:

A meat thermometer stuck deep into the thickest part of the meat or bird helps you avoid food poisoning by making sure that meat and poultry are cooked thoroughly thus destroying the bacteria that causes food-borne illness.

Meat Guidelines to Avoid Food Poisoning

• Ground Meat minimal internal temperature should be 160 degrees F.
• Ground Poultry minimal internal temperature should be 165 degrees F.
• Beef, Veal, Lamb ----------------145 degrees F.
• Pork -------------------------------160 degrees F.
• Poultry ----------------------------170 degrees F.

Also, cook fish until it is opaque, firm, and flakes easily with a fork. Cook eggs until the white is set and the yolk is starting to thicken. When roasting a turkey, chicken or hen, it’s safest to cook the stuffing in a pan outside the bird. If you choose to do it inside then stuff just before the bird is put in the oven, and when checking for doneness make sure a thermometer placed into the center of the stuffing reads at least 165 degrees F.

Whether you eat to live or live to eat, practicing safe handling and cooking habits is a must (and if you don’t believe me, you’ve never had food poisoning!) So, avoid food poisoning with these simple facts.