Stay Healthy with Food Safety

1
Stay Healthy with Food Safety

• The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
  Service

2
Causes of food-borne illness

• Bacteria
• Leading cause
• Viruses
• Parasites
• Fungi

3
Who is at risk for food-borne illness?

• EVERYONE is potentially at risk for food-borne
  illness, but the following groups are at higher
  risk than others
• Children
• Pregnant women
• Seniors
• Individuals with compromised immune systems
• Medications that weaken natural immunity

4
Four steps to food safety

• Cleanliness
• Food separation
• Proper cooking
• Chill

5
Cleanliness

• Personal hygiene
• Wash hands with hot, soapy water
• Cleaning and sanitizing kitchen surfaces and
  utensils
• Use hot, soapy water after preparing each food
  item

6
Food separation

• Raw meat, seafood, and poultry separated from
  other foods during shopping and storage
• Different cutting boards for raw meat, seafood,
  poultry and other foods

7
Proper cooking

• Food thermometer
• Types
• Dial-face
• Digital instant read
• Correct use
• Insertion in thickest part of food
• Reading taken after 15 second wait once
  temperature stops changing
• Periodic accuracy check in cold water
• Proper cooking temperatures for different foods

8
Chill

• Proper temperature setting of appliances
• Refrigerator 35-38 degrees Fahrenheit
• Freezer no higher than 0 degrees Fahrenheit
• Cooled to under 40 degrees Fahrenheit within 2
  hours
• Divide large amounts of food into smaller
  portions

9
Chill

• Safe defrosting of frozen foods
• Defrost foods in refrigerator, not on counter top
• Under cold, running water
• Microwave, if cooked immediately
• No room temperature defrosting

10
TAKE HOME MESSAGE

• The highest rates of food-borne illness occur at
  home!
• Keep food nutritious and safe to eat by following
  the Four Steps to Food Safety
• Clean! (hands and equipment)
• Separate! (raw foods especially)
• Cook! (use a thermometer to assure safety)
• Chill! (check refrigerator and freezer
  temperatures)