Ensure Food Safety and Healthy Eating in your Kitchen

Food safety and healthy eating is of particular importance if you or someone in your family is at greater risk of serious food-borne illness. This includes children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems (from AIDS or cancer).

It is advisable to take every precaution possible, which probably means hard-cooking eggs and avoiding hamburger altogether. The same applies if you are in good health too!

Step 1: BEGIN BY ...

Keeping your hands and all food preparation surfaces and utensils perfectly clean: Soap and warm to hot water (not scalding) water are the basic requirements.

Step 2:

Wash cutting boards after using, and don't prepare food directly on your counters unless you wash them as well.

Step 3:

Change sponges frequently - you can throw your dish sponges in the washing machine whenever you wash clothes in HOT water (throw a cupful of Borax Laundry Booster in for extra cleaning power). Or get into the routine of micro waving your sponge every day: Put it directly in the microwave and blast away until it's too hot to touch (about 10 seconds on full power is good).

Step 4:

Change your kitchen towel frequently - at least once a day. Always keep a separate towel for drying your hands; don't use the same towel that you use to dry your dishes. Never use your dish drying towel to mop up counters or spills on floors; use a paper towel for cleaning up spills instead.

YOUR REFRIGERATOR TEMPERATURE:

Keep your refrigerator at about 35 Degrees Fahrenheit (about 1.6 Degrees Celsius). 40 Degrees Fahrenheit (4.4 Degrees Celsius) is too warm and can cause food to spoil and bacteria to grow in your refrigerator.

YOUR FREEZER TEMPERATURE:

Keep your freezer temperature at 0 Degrees Fahrenheit or lower (-17 Degrees Celsius).

Clean your refrigerator from top to bottom at least once a month, and defrost and clean your freezer every six months.

FOOD STORAGE:

Thaw foods in the refrigerator, or under COLD running water. Never place cooked food on a plate or surface that previously held raw food (particularly red meat, poultry or fish) as this can cause salmonella poisoning.

Food should be stored in the refrigerator until just before cooking or whenever you're not using it. If you wish to bring refrigerated food to room temperature; remove it no more than 1 hour before cooking.

BEFORE RETIRING FOR THE NIGHT:

Always clean your kitchen counters, wash dishes, sweep and mop the floor and empty and clean your trash receptacle before retiring for the night (usually after dinner is a good time).

These common sense preventative measures not only helps to save you time the next day, but it also helps to prevent disease carrying night visitors such as cockroaches and mice from paying unwanted visits to your home.

Tips

* Set up a kitchen cleaning schedule with the family to encourage self responsibility and community mindedness. Charity begins at home they say, as well as the acquiring of useful life skills.

* WHICH FOODS ARE THE SAFEST? Of common foods, cooked vegetables and grains are the safest; next comes cooked fish; then comes cooked meat other than hamburger; then comes cooked chicken, eggs, and hamburger, with which most concerns are associated.

* This article is meant as a guideline only. If you have concerns about food safety and your health, please consult with a doctor or nutritionist.

* Never eat raw meat or fish.

* Cook all foods, especially hamburger, eggs and chicken, until well done.