National Food Safety Education Month

About 1 in 6 Americans each year will become sick with a food borne illness. However there is no reason to panic, food borne illness or often called food poisoning can be easily prevented by following these four food safety tips.

Make sure to wash your hands with warm soapy water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling food, after using the bathroom, changing diapers, and handling a pet. Make sure to wash all utensils and food preparation items in warm soapy water, as well as clean and sanitize all food preparation surfaces. Wash all fruits and vegetables thoroughly prior to eating raw or using in cooking.

Separate raw meats and eggs from other foods in your shopping cart, grocery bags, and fridge to make sure bacteria do not move from the raw foods to other foods. Use a designated cutting board for all raw meats and another designated cutting board for all fruits and vegetables to prevent cross-contamination of bacteria.

Cooking foods to the correct internal temperature is extremely important to prevent food poisoning. It ensures that all harmful bacteria potentially in the food has been destroyed. The only way to know if a food has reached the correct internal temperature when cooking is through the use of a food thermometer. Follow this link to know what temperature each food group needs to be cooked to: https://www.fda.gov/media/107000/download

Meat, poultry, eggs, seafood, and other perishables should be placed in the refrigerator or freezer within 2 hours after cooking or purchasing. Make sure to always marinate foods in the refrigerator. Lastly, thawing food at room temperature is not food safe. These are the three ways to safely defrost food:

1. In the fridge
2. In cold water
3. In the microwave

If thawing in cold water or the microwave the food should be cooked immediately once defrosted.