The Real Food Safety Rules

We are rapidly approaching the major "cooking holidays" of the year. We all want our family and dinner guests to have a pleasant dining experience. We spend days planning that special meal and hours preparing it so nothing goes off without a hitch, but did we do it safely? You might have pulled off the best beef wellingtons ever - you boss' favorite—but if you poisoned everyone in the room, you can kiss that promotion good bye. So let's look at some basic tips for keeping your food safe and you employed.

Keep It Clean

Wash your hands often. This sounds easy, and most people wash their hands before they start cooking, but you should after handling nearly every ingredient you touch—especially meat.
Wash all surfaces with warm, soapy water before beginning to prepare your food, but also often during preparation and after. For added preventative measure mix 1 tbsp. of chlorine bleach per 1 gallon of water. Use this on surfaces only and keep clear of foods.

Vegetables and fruits should be washed under running water. After washing they should be set to the side until ready to be used. Keep them separate from meats.

It is a common myth that washing meat before cooking it can prevent bacteria from spreading throughout your kitchen and improves food safety; this is false. What happens instead is contaminates are spread further onto utensils, sinks and preparation surfaces. Meat should go directly from the packaging to the prep surface and then the cooking apparatus (I.E. pan, pot, crock, etc.). Any bacteria that might be present in the meat will be killed by cooking it. That's why meat is supposed to be cooked to certain temperatures.

Cooking

Every kitchen should own a meat thermometer and every cook should know how to use one. This will ensure that all meat is cooked to a temperature that is suitably safe to be consumed. The following are meat types and minimum safe temperatures according to the FDA:

Beef, Veal and Lamb - 145 degrees F
Pork - 145 degrees F
Poultry - 145 degrees F

Chill

Harmful bacteria that can cause food poisoning grows at an accelerated rate at room temperature. For this reason it is important to bring the temperature of your leftovers down as quickly as possible. Food should be chilled and stored within 2 hours of serving or preparation.
Covering leftovers is not always enough. Make sure you have eliminated as much contact with air as possible. With soups and sauces it is recommended that you place a large piece of plastic wrap over the top and press it down until the liquid touches the wrap, forming a seal. Not only will this prevent harmful air from reaching the sauce but has the added benefit of eliminating "skin" that forms on the surface of sauces, soups and gravies.

Meat should be tightly wrapped and placed in the refrigerator as soon as possible.
Keep your refrigerator at a minimum of 40 °F and check this every so often against a refrigerator thermometer. Also, try not to pack too much food into your refrigerator as this prohibits air from circulating and keeping everything nice and cool.

If you follow these steps you can greatly reduce the chances of food-borne pathogens ruining your holiday season. Have a happy holiday season!