Factors to Ensure Food Safety

Food safety is a huge concern in your kitchen as well as in industrial workplaces such as restaurants and food-processing factories.

View the video below entitled The Importance of Cleaning and Washing during Food Preparation. It is provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

How to Ensure Food Safety

1. Observe necessary precautions when storing, handling, preparing, cooking, and serving food. Observe special precautions when you handle raw meat, seafood, and poultry.

2. Keep food out of the Danger Zone! Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold.

• Refrigeration at or below 4°C (40°F) slows most bacterial growth.

• Freezing at or below -18°C (0°F) can stop bacterial action completely.

3. Refrigeration and freezing do not kill bacteria. Only proper cooking will do that!

4. Store foods at the proper temperatures:

• Cold foods should be kept in the refrigerator.

• Foods with protein and mayonnaise should never be left out more than one to two hours, because bacteria can multiply in the food.

• Eggs and tuna with mayonnaise are especially susceptible to bacterial growth when left at room temperature too long.

5. Foods that are cooked should be kept hot until serving. Then, they should be refrigerated immediately after the meal.

6. Be conscious of the date of purchase as well as the best before date on packaged meat and eggs.

View the video: Sanitation and Cross-Contamination

Review the Sanitation and Cross-Contamination Guiding Questions for the Video