The truth is that every day people get sick from contaminated food and a continue effort is required by all involved in the food operations. Safety in food processing starts from quality check of all ingredients, (sound condition) sanitation track of processes, storage, transportation
Commercial food products are regulated by government agencies and required to sample batches, keep records off all ingredients, packing,etc. they also release information in case of a recall .
Household environment and unsafely food storage, preparation or cooking can be catastrophic for humans. The good news is that with little knowledge everyone can manage a healthy life style
Following are few safety steps you can do at home to reduce harmful bacteria associated with food.
Make sure ingredients, food is purchased from well renounce sources.
Buy foods with the longest expiration day
Ask the store for ice if you purchase refrigerated or freezer foods and intend to spend more time shopping or let food shopping to be just designated for that reason, home .
Do not buy more food then 3 to 4 days to ensure freshness .
Do not let any items which need refrigeration or freezing to spent time at the room temperature.
Make sure you have a refrigerator set for a 35 to 41F (remember, refrigeration or freezing do not stop or kill bacteria in food it just slow it down). Avoid to open refrigerator too many times during the day so temperature wont fluctuate.
Meats needs to be set on the bottom of refrigerator, also make sure you separate all raw foods from cooked food as well to avoid cross contamination
Sanitize all cooking utensils, including cutting boards , knifes spoons involved in prep etc. An easy sanitation solution can be made out of a mixture of bleach and water. A 0.2% concentration should be enough . A concentration of more then 0.5 will require re cleaning with distillate water.
Let all dishes air dry and do not use cloth to wipe (cross contamination)
Cook all meats trough if intended for underage small kids or seniors since the immune system is week. make sure you know the cooking temperature for each type of meat and as we said before , buy a good food check thermometer, place one in refrigerator, you may be surprised of the fluctuating temperatures.
When slow cooking meats do not let temperature to fall in the danger zone .135F or bellow. buy an oven thermometer
There are more information what you can find on different government agency like USDA, also can contact us with questions, or assistance with commercial food processing, packaging or distribution.
Wash hands for a minimum of 20 seconds with soap when sweeching tasks
Serve food hot at 135F and higher and cold food at 41F and lower.
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