5 Simple Tips For Food Safety At Home

When it comes to food safety, you can’t be too careful. You want to make sure you…

…and everyone eating your food, are safe to do so. You should learn about…

…tips for food safety at home!

If food isn’t safely prepared then getting food poisoning becomes a risk.

Food poisoning is not pleasant and it can be fatal to some people. So, we have compiled…

…a list of 5 tips you must follow in order to safely prepare food at home.

Simple Tips For Food Safety At Home

Ensure All Of Your Food Is Cooked Properly

While this may seem like a basic and obvious step, many people don’t follow it correctly.

Cooking your food is not just to make it taste better, but it is to kill off any harmful…

….bacteria in it. This applies to a lot of food and not just meats. Every food has different…

…indicators of when it is properly cooked. It’s the commonly simple tips for food safety!

For example, knowing when bacon is cooked properly is different from knowing when…

…chicken is cooked properly. The best way to know if food is cooked is to use a food-safe…

…thermometer. This is inserted into the food so you can see if the internal temperature…

…is high enough. Different foods will need to reach different temperatures.

If you are reheating food, make sure it reaches a safe temperature to kill off bacteria…

…before consuming.

Properly Clean Your Ingredients

This is to remove any harmful bacteria. You do this to your fruits and vegetables.

You don’t need to use soap. Be gentle with the soft ingredients but properly scrub…

…the more robust fruits and vegetables with a food-cleaning brush. Don’t clean your…

…meats or eggs. Any splashes of water during the cleaning process could contain…

…harmful bacteria that will spread across your kitchen.

Food that you have picked yourself may need to go through a more rigorous cleaning…

…process. You can leave them to soak in apple cider vinegar or bicarbonate of soda and…

…water in order to remove any insects you may not have previously seen.

Dry your ingredients with a paper towel or clean dishcloth. Isn’t it simple tips for food safety?

Consistently Clean Work Area

Having a clean work area is the best way to avoid spreading germs.

Make sure you wipe down your surfaces with hot soapy water and thoroughly…

…dry them with a clean cloth. Wash any dishcloths after use.

While having clean tools and surfaces is important, the most important thing to…

…keep clean is your hands. You need to wash them properly with soap and hot water.

Get underneath your fingernails and ensure everything is clean up to your wrists…

…this should take about 20 seconds.

Clean your hands before you begin cooking and after handling any foods that can…

…contaminate other foods like raw meat.

Avoid Cross-Contamination

Avoiding cross-contamination is essentially about keeping cooked or prepared foods…

…separate from raw foods. You want to use different tools for different ingredients…

…this means changing up your knives for cutting up different items.

You also need to make sure you have different cutting boards, one for fruit and…

…vegetables, and one for raw meat. These chopping boards should be washed after…

…every use.

While you are shopping, try to keep the raw meat separate from the rest of your…

…groceries in your cart, and also pack them in their own separate bag.

Store Food Properly

Food safety isn’t just for when you are cooking. Storing your food incorrectly will…

…make them go off quicker. Make sure you know exactly when some ingredients…

…go out of date so you can use them before that.

Most ingredients will come with storage instructions for you to follow.

Keep your ingredients in airtight containers. Make sure your storage appliances are…

…at the correct temperatures. Your refrigerator should be below 40 degrees Fahrenheit…

…and your freezer should be below 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

Simple tips for food safety for foods that need to be kept in the refrigerator…

…never leave them out for more than 2 hours.

During that time harmful bacteria can produce. If the day is very hot…

…then get your food inside the refrigerator as fast as possible. Storage inside your…

…refrigerator is also very important. Ensure any raw meats are kept in an airtight…

…container and at the bottom of your refrigerator so that way if it does leak it won’t…

…contaminate any of the ingredients below it.

Final Thoughts

Tips for food safety is pivotal to keeping yourself and others safe and should not be taken…

…lightly. If you believe you are experiencing symptoms of food poisoning then…

…contact a doctor immediately.