Food Safety at Home

There are many things that we can do at home to minimize the risk of food borne illness.  Many of the things are common sense, so you probably already do them, but here are some tips and valuable sources to assist you:

• Always wash and sanitize your counter tops after working with raw meats, fish, poultry or eggs.
• Always wash your hands before starting to work with food or after working with trash, dirty dishes, cleaning supplies or using the restroom.  A good rule is 20 seconds of scrubbing with soap and then rinse with warm water.
• Always wash your hands after handling raw meats, fish, poultry or eggs before handling other foods or handling clean dishes.
• Thaw your food in the refrigerator, under cold running water for no more than 2 hours, in the microwave or as part of the cooking process.  NEVER thaw food on the countertop or at room temperature.
• Use a stab thermometer to ensure that all meats are cooked to a safe temperature.
• Never leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.  A good rule of thumb is to discard any food that has sat out at room temperature for more than 2 hours, as bacterial growth can be extensive after this point.  Refrigerate leftovers to 41°F before the two hour time frame if you want to safely keep the food.  Or keep hot food food hotter than 135°F and cold foods colder than 41°F during serving periods.

Here are some fun and helpful sites to assist with keeping you and your family safe:

Home Food Safety

FoodSafety.gov

Michigan Department of Agriculture Food Safety in the Home

Home Food Safety 101 YouTube Video

Partnership for Food Safety YouTube Video

FightBac.org