Safe Food Handling
To keep food safe from harmful bacteria follow these four simple steps:
CLEAN: Wash hands and surfaces often
SEPARATE: Don't cross-contaminate
COOK: Cook to proper temperature
CHILL: Refrigerate promptly
Clean: Wash Hands and Surfaces Often
Separate: Don't Cross-Contaminate
Cross-contamination is how bacteria can be spread. When handling raw meat, poultry, seafood and eggs, keep these foods and their juices away from ready-to-eat foods. Always start with a clean scene -- wash hands with warm water and soap. Wash and sanitize cutting boards, dishes, countertops and utensils.
Cook: Cook to Proper Temperatures and Keep Hot Food Hot
Food is safely cooked when it reaches a high enough internal temperature to kill the harmful bacteria that cause food-born illness. Use a food thermometer to measure the internal temperature of cooked foods. Once food is cooked or heated to proper temperature it should be held at no less than 135°F.
Cook: Heat it Up Chart
Food is safely cooked when it reaches a high enough internal temperature to kill the harmful bacteria that cause illness.
Minimum Safe Cooking Temperatures - As measured with a food thermometer.
Ground Meat & Meat Mixtures
Beef, Pork, Veal, Lamb: 155 °F
Duck, Turkey, Chicken: 165 °F
Fresh Cuts Pork, Beef, Veal, Lamb: 145 °F
Poultry
Chicken & Turkey, whole: 165 °F
Poultry Parts: 165 °F
Duck & Goose: 165 °F
Stuffing (cooked alone or in bird): 165 °F
Ham, Brined Meats
Ham: 155 °F
Eggs & Egg Dishes
Eggs
Cook until yolk & white are firm
Egg Dishes: 160 °F
Seafood
145 °F
Leftovers & Casseroles: 165 °F
Chill:
Refrigerate foods quickly because cold temperatures slow the growth of harmful bacteria. Do not over-stuff the refrigerator. Cold air must circulate to help keep food safe. Keeping a constant refrigerator temperature of 41°F or below is one of the most effective ways to reduce the risk of food-born illness. Use an appliance thermometer to be sure the temperature is consistently 41°F or below. The freezer temperature should be 0°F or below.
http://www.fightbac.org/about-foodborne-illness/least-wanted-pathogens
http://www.fightbac.org/storage/documents/flyers/clean__fightbac_factsheet_2010_color2.pdf
To keep food safe from harmful bacteria follow these four simple steps:
CLEAN: Wash hands and surfaces often
SEPARATE: Don't cross-contaminate
COOK: Cook to proper temperature
CHILL: Refrigerate promptly
Clean: Wash Hands and Surfaces Often
- Bacteria can be spread throughout the kitchen and get onto hands, cutting boards, utensils, counter tops and food.
- Wash your hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds before and after handling food and after using the bathroom, changing diapers and handling pets.
- Wash your cutting boards, dishes, utensils, and counter tops with hot soapy water and sanitize with bleach solution or other sanitizing solution after preparing each food item and before you go on to the next food.
- Consider using paper towels to clean up kitchen surfaces. If you use cloth towels wash them often in the hot cycle of your washing machine.
- Rinse fresh fruits and vegetables under running tap water, including those with skins and rinds that are not eaten.
- Rub firm-skin fruits and vegetables under running tap water or scrub with a clean vegetable brush while rinsing with running tap water.
Separate: Don't Cross-Contaminate
Cross-contamination is how bacteria can be spread. When handling raw meat, poultry, seafood and eggs, keep these foods and their juices away from ready-to-eat foods. Always start with a clean scene -- wash hands with warm water and soap. Wash and sanitize cutting boards, dishes, countertops and utensils.
- Separate raw meat, poultry, seafood and eggs from other foods in your grocery shopping cart, grocery bags and in your refrigerator.
- Use one cutting board for fresh produce and a separate one for raw meat, poultry and seafood.
- Never place cooked food on a plate that previously held raw meat, poultry, seafood or eggs.
Cook: Cook to Proper Temperatures and Keep Hot Food Hot
Food is safely cooked when it reaches a high enough internal temperature to kill the harmful bacteria that cause food-born illness. Use a food thermometer to measure the internal temperature of cooked foods. Once food is cooked or heated to proper temperature it should be held at no less than 135°F.
- Use a food thermometer which measures the internal temperature of cooked meat, poultry and egg dishes, to make sure that the food is cooked to a safe internal temperature.
- Cook roasts and steaks to a minimum of 145°F. All poultry should reach a safe minimum internal temperature of 165°F as measured with a food thermometer. Check the internal temperature in the innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast with a food thermometer.
- Cook ground meat, where bacteria can spread during grinding, to at least 160°F. Information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) links eating undercooked ground beef with a higher risk of illness. Remember, color is not a reliable indicator of doneness. Use a food thermometer to check the internal temperature of your burgers.
- Cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm, not runny. Don't use recipes in which eggs remain raw or only partially cooked (particularly when cooking for high-risk populations.
- Cook fish to 145°F or until the flesh is opaque and separates easily with a fork.
- Make sure there are no cold spots in food (where bacteria can survive) when cooking in a microwave oven. For best results, cover food, stir and rotate for even cooking. If there is no turntable, rotate the dish by hand once or twice during cooking.
- Bring sauces, soups and gravy to a boil when reheating. Heat other leftovers thoroughly to 165°F.
Cook: Heat it Up Chart
Food is safely cooked when it reaches a high enough internal temperature to kill the harmful bacteria that cause illness.
Minimum Safe Cooking Temperatures - As measured with a food thermometer.
Ground Meat & Meat Mixtures
Beef, Pork, Veal, Lamb: 155 °F
Duck, Turkey, Chicken: 165 °F
Fresh Cuts Pork, Beef, Veal, Lamb: 145 °F
Poultry
Chicken & Turkey, whole: 165 °F
Poultry Parts: 165 °F
Duck & Goose: 165 °F
Stuffing (cooked alone or in bird): 165 °F
Ham, Brined Meats
Ham: 155 °F
Eggs & Egg Dishes
Eggs
Cook until yolk & white are firm
Egg Dishes: 160 °F
Seafood
145 °F
Leftovers & Casseroles: 165 °F
Chill:
Refrigerate foods quickly because cold temperatures slow the growth of harmful bacteria. Do not over-stuff the refrigerator. Cold air must circulate to help keep food safe. Keeping a constant refrigerator temperature of 41°F or below is one of the most effective ways to reduce the risk of food-born illness. Use an appliance thermometer to be sure the temperature is consistently 41°F or below. The freezer temperature should be 0°F or below.
- Refrigerate or freeze meat, poultry, eggs and other perishables as soon as you get them home from the store.
- Never let raw meat, poultry, eggs, cooked food or cut fresh fruits or vegetables sit at room temperature more than two hours before putting them in the refrigerator or freezer (one hour when the temperature is above 90°F).
- Never defrost food at room temperature. Food must be kept at a safe temperature during thawing. There are three safe ways to defrost food: in the refrigerator, in cold running water, and in the microwave. Food thawed in the microwave should be cooked immediately.
- Always marinate food in the refrigerator.
- Divide large amounts of leftovers into shallow containers for quicker cooling in the refrigerator.
- Food must be cooled from 135°F to 41°F or lower within six hours (135°F to 70°F within two hours and 70°F to 41°F in the next four hours).
http://www.fightbac.org/about-foodborne-illness/least-wanted-pathogens
http://www.fightbac.org/storage/documents/flyers/clean__fightbac_factsheet_2010_color2.pdf