Tips for Food Safety
Whether you are in your home or an employee in a restaurant, food safety is something that is very important. If you aren’t careful around food, then you or the people around you could become very sick and possibly die. Here are some important tips to remember when it comes to food safety.
Wash your hands
The first and foremost thing that is important when it comes to food safety is that you need to wash your hands constantly. The bacteria from your hands can go from your hands to the food that you are preparing. You should wash your hands before you touch any food and also when you touch vegetables after handling meat to prevent cross contamination.
Proper cooking temperature
The second thing to remember with food safety is making sure that the meat is being cooked to the proper internal temperature for that particular meat, and this should be checked with a meat thermometer. Beef should be cooked to at least 145 degrees and chicken has a minimum of at least 165 degrees.
Proper storage temperature
The third thing to remember for food safety is that the food should be stored at the right temperatures. For cold foods that are perishable, it is 40 degrees Fahrenheit or less and hot foods need to be stored at 140 degrees Fahrenheit or more. All leftovers should be put in the refrigerator no more than two hours later so that bacteria has less chance to grow.
Clean religiously
The final thing that you should remember is that you should wipe everything down when you are trying to be good about food safety. Vegetables and fruits need to be washed well to make sure that they are scrubbed well. As an added precaution, peel the vegetable or fruit. Wipe down the counters and everything else that has come into contact with the raw food to make sure that there isn’t any contamination.
Food safety is something that is very important for the health of everyone, and you can make sure to help everyone stay healthy by simply following the above rules. No matter where you are, food safety is something that should be a priority. Just make sure that you are checking the temperatures for cooking and storage and clean your hands, surfaces, and skins of produce. All of these steps will help your food stay safe and the people around you stay healthy.