Safe Food Handling

• Handling Food Safely At Home
• Food Product Dating
• Frozen Foods
• Refrigerating Food
• Pantry Storage

Many cases of food poisoning occur each year due to improper handling of foods in the home. Once you purchase food, go directly home. If this is not possible, keep a cooler in the car to transport perishable items. Immediately put cold perishables into the refrigerator or freezer.

Hot perishable foods picked up from the deli department need to be kept warm and consumed within two hours. If you purchase hot deli foods to eat at a later time, place the food in small portions in shallow containers and refrigerate or freeze as soon as possible. Perishable foods should be kept at room temperature no longer than two hours.

Bacteria multiply rapidly at temperatures between 40^o and 140^oF. Unfortunately, the harmful bacteria that cause most cases of food poisoning cannot be seen, smelled or tasted.

Therefore, it's important to:

• Keep EVERYTHING clean - hands, utensils, counters, cutting boards and sinks.
• Always WASH HANDS thoroughly in hot soapy water before preparing foods and after handling raw meat, poultry or seafood.
• Don't let RAW JUICES from meat. poultry or seafood touch ready-to-eat foods either in te refrigerator or during preparation.
• "Closed or Coded Dates" - packing numbers for use by the manufacturer in tracking their products. his enables manufacturers to rotate their stock as well as locate their product in the event of a recall.

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Dates are printed on many food products. After the date expires, must you discard that food? In most cases, no. A calendar date may be stamped on a product's package to help the store determine how long to display the product for sale. It is not a safety date.

Product dating is not required by law. Calendar dates are found primarily on perishable foods such as dairy products, eggs, meat and poultry. Coded dates might appear on shelf stable products such as cans and boxes of food.

There are several types of dates:

• "Sell-by" date - tell the store how long to display the product for sale. You should buy the product before the expire date.
• "Best Before" - recommended for best flavour or quality. It is not a purchase or safety date.
• "Use-By" - the last date recommended for use of the product while at peak quality. The date has been determined by the manufacturer of the product.
• "Closed or Coded Dates" - packing numbers for use by the manufacturer in tracking their products. This enables manufacturers to rotate their stock as well as locate their product in the event of a recall.

BABY FOOD

Do not but or use infant formula and baby food past its "use-by" date.

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Because foods frozen at peak quality will taste better than foods frozen near the end of their useful life, quickly freeze items you don't plan to use in the next day or two.

Packaging

Proper packaging helps maintain quality and prevent "freezer burn." It is safe to freeze foods in their supermarket wrappings. Use them within a month or two. Many supermarket wrappings are air permeable. For longer storage, overwrap packages with airtight heavy-duty foil, plastic wrap or freezer paper, or place packages inside a plastic bag. Date packages and use the oldest items first.

Freezer Burn

If frozen food gets :freezer burn," it is still safe to eat; it is merely dry in spots. Cut freezer-burned portions away either before of after cooking the food.

Defrosting

Freezing to 0^oF. inactivates but does not destroy microbes - bacteria, yeast and molds - present in food. Once thawed, however, these microbes can again become active, multiplying under the right conditions to level that can lead to foodborne illness.

Never defrost foods outdoors, in a cold room in the house such as the basement, or on the kitchen counter. These methods encourage growth of harmful bacteria that may be present.

There are three safe ways to defrost food: in the refrigerator, in cold water and in the microwave. Food thawed in the refigerator is safe to refreeze without cooking. It is important to plan ahead because food may take sveral hours to thaw in the refigerator.

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We keep food in the refrigerator to preerve its freshness and keep it safe. Cold temperatures keep food fresh and inhibit the growth of most bacteria.

However, food spoiling microorganisms can still grow and multiply slowly over time, so there is a limit to the length of time various foods will stay fresh in the refigerator. Eventually food will begin to look or smell bad and should be thrown out. Use the following tempurature and storage tips to help keep perishable food safe.

Temperature

Set the refrigerator to maintain a temperature of 40^oF or below. Keep a refrigerator thermometer in the unit or check the temperature periodically. The control may need to be adjusted seasonally. For example, a refrigerator set for 40^oF in the summer may be too cold for the winter, resulting in frozen lettuce or milk. Don't overload the refrigerator. Air must circulate freely to cool all foods evenly.

Storage

• Leave meat and poultry products in the store wrap before using, since repeated handling can introduce bacteria into the product or spread bacteria around the kichen.
• Store opened food in foil, plastic wrap, leakproof plastic bags or airtight containers to keep food from drying out.
• Place meat, poultry and seafood in the coldest part of the refrigerator. Store eggs in their original carton on a shelf, not in the door.
• Defrost frozen meats or marinate meats in the refrigerator where they will remain safe - never on the kitchen counter.
• Clean the refrigerator regularly to remove spoiled foods so that bacteria can't be passed to other foods.

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Shelf stable foods such as canned goods, cereal, baking mixes, pasta, dry beans, mustard, ketchup and peanut butter can be kept safely at room temperature.

To keep these foods at their best quality, store in clean, dry, cool(below85^oF) cabinets away from the stove or the refrigerator's exhaust. Extremely hot (over 100^oF and cold temperatures are harmful to canned goods.

Never use food from cans that are leaking, bulging, badly dented, or with a foul odor; cracked jars or jars with loose or buldging lids; or any container that spurts liquids when you open it. NEVER TASTE such foods. Throw out any food you suspect is spoiled. In general, most canned foods have a long "health life," and when properly stored, are safe to eat for several years:

• Low-acid canned goods 2 to 5 years (canned meat and poultry, stews, soups except tomato, pasta products, potatoes, corn, carrots, spinach, beans, beets, peas and pumpkin).
• High-acid canned goods - 12 to 18 months (tomato products, fruits, sauerkraut and foods in vinegar-based sauces or dressing).
• Some canned hams are shelf stable. Never store ham or any other foods labeled "keep refrigerated" in the pantry. Such foods must be stored in the refrigerator.

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