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Recommended Steps
In order to prevent foodborne illness we
recommend:
1. Thoroughly wash your hands, dishes, utensils, cutting boards,
and all other food contact surfaces.
2. Thoroughly cook all meat until juices run clean. Use a probe
thermometer to take the internal temperature of food.
3. Keep all hot food above 60ºC (140ºF) and cold food below 4ºC (40ºF). The danger zone
is the temperature range between 4ºC and 60ºC (40ºF and 140ºF).
4. Keep frozen food below -18ºC (minus 0.4ºF). Food can be safely
defrosted in
the refrigerator, under running cold water or in the microwave. never
defrost food on the counter.
5. Never use same cutting board or utensils for raw and cooked foods.
6. Cool cooked food quickly using shallow pans or an ice bath. Do not
allow hazardous food to be in the danger zone longer than 4 hours.
7. Store cooked or ready to eat food above raw food or in a separate
refrigerator to prevent cross-contamination.
8. Monitor your refrigerators closely. All refrigerators must have an
easy to find accurate thermometer. The thermomer must be checked daily
and internal temperature of the food must be below 4ºC (40ºF).
9. Heat leftovers and precooked food to at least 74ºC (165ºF). Reheated food
should be steaming and hot to the touch even when you microwave.
10. Clean and sanitize garbage containers on a regular basis.
11. Label chemicals and pesticides and store them in a separate area
away from food.
12. If you have to use curtains to divide areas, always use plastic
curtains.
13. Cool prepared food rapidly in shallow pans. Use freezer or ice
baths for rapid cooling, stir often and check internal temperature
during cooling process and before food is stored away.
14. Cool prepared food in two steps:
Step 1 - From 60ºC (140ºF) to below 20ºC (68ºF) should be done in
2 hours or less.
Step 2 - From 20ºC (68ºF) to below 4ºC (40ºF) should be done in
2 remaining 4 hours or less.
NOTE: The
center point of beef stew cooked in a large stockpot and placed in a
refrigerator to cool will need full week to cool to proper temperature (below 4ºC or 40ºF).
15. Calibrate your termometers on regular basis. If you use ice water,
reading should be 0ºC. If you are using boiling water,
reading should be 212ºF.
Related Links:
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Did You Know?
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Bacteria
(especially E. coli) may be used to replicate DNA in the form of a
plasmid. This DNA is often chemically modified in vitro then inserted
into bacteria to select for the desired traits and isolate the desired
product from by-products of the reaction. After growing the bacteria
and thereby replicating the DNA, the DNA may be further modified and
inserted into other organisms. More...
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Bacteria
grow best in
the temperature range between 4ºC and 60ºC. Temperature below
4ºC, and temperature between 60ºC and 74ºC, will not
kill bacteria, but it will not allow them to multiply enough times to
cause an illness. In order to kill pathogenic bacteria you need
temperatures above 74ºC. Temperature is the easiest factor to
control in order to prevent bacterial growth.
Find
out more...
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Bacterial
intoxication will typically have shorter incubation period than
infection (with sudden onset), which usually only lasts one day and
fever is rarely present. More...
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* * *
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Improperly
handled
food and equipment, poorly washed dishes and multi-service articles
have potential to spread pathogenic bacteria and open the door for
dangerous foodborne diseases. More...
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