Safety & Sanitation

General Information

Food safety and sanitation is a serious public health concern. In the United States alone, it is estimated that 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths are attributed to food-borne illness each year. The annual cost of food-borne illness is estimated to be from $10 billion to $83 billion.

The causes of food-borne illness are complex. Some major risk factors of food-borne illness are related to personal behaviors and preparation practices at home and in food service establishments. The principle known risk factors include:

• Improper holding temperatures,
• Inadequate cooking, such as undercooking raw eggs and meat
• Contaminated hands and equipment, leading to cross-contamination,
• Food from unsafe sources,
• Poor personal hygiene, and
• Others (such as, pest and rodent infestation and improper food storage).

Steps to Prevent Food-borne Illness

Step One - CLEAN: Wash Hands and Surfaces Often

Bacteria can spread throughout the kitchen and get on to cutting boards, knives, sponges and counter tops. Here's how to prevent this cross-contamination:

• Wash hands in hot soapy water before preparing food and after using the bathroom, changing diapers, smoking and handling pets. For best results, consumers should use very warm water to moisten their hands and then apply soap and rub their hands together for 20 seconds before rinsing thoroughly with tolerably hot water. Twenty seconds is the same amount of time it takes to sing two choruses of Happy Birthday. After hands are washed, they should be dried with a paper towel or with an air hand-drying device.
• Wash cutting boards, knives, utensils and counter tops in hot soapy water after preparing each food item and before going on to the next one.
• Use plastic or other non-porous cutting boards. Cutting boards should be run through the dishwasher or washed in hot soapy water after use.
• Use paper towels to clean up kitchen surfaces. Do not use sponges or cloth towels to clean up surfaces or wipe hands as they harbor harmful bacteria Washcloth towels, dish cloths and sponges often in the hot cycle of the washing machine.

Step 2 - SEPARATE: Avoid Cross Contamination

Cross-contamination is how bacteria spread from one food product to another. This is especially true for raw meat, poultry and seafood. Always keep these foods and their juices away from ready-to-eat foods. Here's how to prevent this type of cross-contamination:

• Separate raw meat, poultry and seafood from other food in the grocery-shopping cart.
• Store raw meat, poultry and seafood on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator so juices don't drip onto other foods and inside of a container, pan or plate for each item.
• If possible, use one cutting board for raw meat products and another for salads and other foods that are ready to be eaten.
• Always wash cutting boards, knives and other utensils with hot soapy water after they come in contact with raw meat, poultry and seafood.
• Never place cooked food on a plate, which previously held raw meat, poultry or seafood or use a utensil for cooked food that had touched raw meat before being washed in hot, soapy water.

Step 3 - Cook: Cook to Proper Temperatures

Foods are properly cooked when they are heated for a long enough time and at a high enough temperature to kill the harmful bacteria that cause food-borne illness. The best way to stop food-borne illness is to:

• Use a meat thermometer, which measures the internal temperature of cooked meat and poultry, to make sure that the meat is cooked all the way through.
• Cook roasts and steaks to at least 145°F.
• Whole poultry should be cooked to 180°F for doneness.
• 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, pink ground beef with a higher risk of illness. If a thermometer is not available, do not eat ground beef that is still pink inside.
• Cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm, not runny. Don't use recipes in which eggs remain raw or only partially cooked.
• Cook fish until it is opaque and flakes 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.

Step 4 - Chill: Refrigerate Promptly

Refrigerate foods quickly because cold temperatures keep most harmful bacteria from growing and multiplying. So, public health officials recommend setting the refrigerator at 40°F and the freezer unit at 0°F and occasionally checking these temperatures with an appliance thermometer.

Following these steps:

Refrigerate or freeze perishables, prepared food and leftovers within two hours after cooking. Never allow food to cool on counter at room temp.

• Never defrost (or marinate) food on the kitchen counter. Use the refrigerator, cold running water or the microwave (allow 1 day for every 5
  lbs. of Turkey to thaw in the refrigerator, putting it on the bottom shelf, in a pan or on a plate to catch any juices).
• Divide large amounts of leftovers into small, shallow containers for quick cooling in the refrigerator; leave uncovered or partially covered until cooled, then cover.
• With poultry and other stuffed meats, remove the stuffing and refrigerate it in a separate container.
• Don't pack the refrigerator. Cool air must circulate to keep food safe. 

1. Centers for Disease Control

2. ServSafe(r) /National Restaurant Association

3. HACCP/ Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point

4. Fight BAC! (r)