Food Safety Handling Procedures
Food handling courses are typically required of restaurant employees, to teach them the safest way to handle food, thus reducing the incidents of food borne illnesses. Food borne illnesses also occur in the home, often because members of the household ignore safe food handling procedures. Teaching family members how to safely handle, store, and prepare food is as crucial as teaching restaurant employees.
Hand Washing
Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and warm water before and after handling food. When touching raw meat, always wash your hands before touching other foods. For example, if you have touched raw meat and then proceed to make a fresh salad for dinner, you are introducing bacteria from the meat onto the vegetables. Cooking meat often destroys harmful bacteria, yet the bacteria you transferred to the raw vegetables lives, and can make you sick.
Cross Contamination
Avoid cross contamination from one food to another by always sanitizing your counter, cutting board, knives, and other utensils, before introducing another food to the surface or instrument. For example, never chop up your vegetables on the same cutting board you used for the raw chicken, unless you have thoroughly cleaned the cutting board. One way to sanitize is to wash the surface with a solution made from one tablespoon liquid chlorine bleach to one gallon of hot water. Keep the juices from the meat, fish, or poultry from contaminating your work surface or other foods.
Cooking Temperatures
Cook meats to the minimum recommended temperate to avoid undercooked and potentially hazardous foods. The United States Department of Agriculture recommends cooking all cuts of pork and ground beef, lamb, and veal to 160 degrees F. They recommend cooking poultry to a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees F, and steaks and roasts from beef, veal, lamb cooked to 145 degrees F
Thawing
It’s not advised to set a frozen package of meat on the counter to thaw at room temperature. Ideally, set the frozen package in the refrigerator and allow it to thaw slowly. Always place a plate under the package, to capture escaping juices. For a faster thaw, encase the package in a leak proof bag and submerge it in cold water, changing the cold water every thirty minutes. For a super quick thaw, use your microwave and follow the manufacturer’s thawing instructions. Cook thawed meat immediately.
Serving
Food bacteria that makes us sick thrives in temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees F. Therefore, when serving food keep it at 140 degrees F or warmer, or 40 degrees F or colder. Throw out food left at room temperature for more than two hours, or throw it out after an hour if the temperatures are above 90 degrees F. To cool down food quickly for storage, pour it in a shallow pan and move immediately to the refrigerator. Don’t allow the food to cool off on the stove.
Storage
Perishable foods need refrigeration within two hours, or one hour in warm weather. Keep the refrigerator temperature no higher than 40 degrees F, and the freezer at 0 degrees F or lower. Wrap meat securely before freezing or storing. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends freezing meat in its original wrapper, after wrapping it with foil or plastic wrap. Don’t keep high acid canned foods in the pantry for longer than 18 months, or low acid canned foods for more than five years. Discard dented, leaking, rusted or bulging cans.
Hand Washing
Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and warm water before and after handling food. When touching raw meat, always wash your hands before touching other foods. For example, if you have touched raw meat and then proceed to make a fresh salad for dinner, you are introducing bacteria from the meat onto the vegetables. Cooking meat often destroys harmful bacteria, yet the bacteria you transferred to the raw vegetables lives, and can make you sick.
Cross Contamination
Avoid cross contamination from one food to another by always sanitizing your counter, cutting board, knives, and other utensils, before introducing another food to the surface or instrument. For example, never chop up your vegetables on the same cutting board you used for the raw chicken, unless you have thoroughly cleaned the cutting board. One way to sanitize is to wash the surface with a solution made from one tablespoon liquid chlorine bleach to one gallon of hot water. Keep the juices from the meat, fish, or poultry from contaminating your work surface or other foods.
Cooking Temperatures
Cook meats to the minimum recommended temperate to avoid undercooked and potentially hazardous foods. The United States Department of Agriculture recommends cooking all cuts of pork and ground beef, lamb, and veal to 160 degrees F. They recommend cooking poultry to a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees F, and steaks and roasts from beef, veal, lamb cooked to 145 degrees F
Thawing
It’s not advised to set a frozen package of meat on the counter to thaw at room temperature. Ideally, set the frozen package in the refrigerator and allow it to thaw slowly. Always place a plate under the package, to capture escaping juices. For a faster thaw, encase the package in a leak proof bag and submerge it in cold water, changing the cold water every thirty minutes. For a super quick thaw, use your microwave and follow the manufacturer’s thawing instructions. Cook thawed meat immediately.
Serving
Food bacteria that makes us sick thrives in temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees F. Therefore, when serving food keep it at 140 degrees F or warmer, or 40 degrees F or colder. Throw out food left at room temperature for more than two hours, or throw it out after an hour if the temperatures are above 90 degrees F. To cool down food quickly for storage, pour it in a shallow pan and move immediately to the refrigerator. Don’t allow the food to cool off on the stove.
Storage
Perishable foods need refrigeration within two hours, or one hour in warm weather. Keep the refrigerator temperature no higher than 40 degrees F, and the freezer at 0 degrees F or lower. Wrap meat securely before freezing or storing. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends freezing meat in its original wrapper, after wrapping it with foil or plastic wrap. Don’t keep high acid canned foods in the pantry for longer than 18 months, or low acid canned foods for more than five years. Discard dented, leaking, rusted or bulging cans.
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