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Many cases of food-borne illness occur each year due to people improperly handling raw food items in the home. Microorganisms multiply rapidly at temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees F. Unfortunately, the harmful bacteria that cause most cases of food-borne illness cannot be seen, smelled or tasted. Therefore, it’s important to:
Keep cold foods cold (40 degrees F or below)
and hot foods hot (140 degrees F or above),
and follow these additional rules below.
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 within a day or two. Use a freezer thermometer to keep the freezer temperature at 0 degrees F or below. Frozen food quality deteriorates more rapidly above 0 degrees F.
Remember, freezing to 0 degrees F inactivates, but does not destroy, microbes such as bacteria, yeasts and molds that can be present in food. Once a frozen food item is thawed, these microbes can become active, multiplying under the right conditions to levels that can lead to food-borne illness.
Never defrost food outdoors, in a cold room in the house, such as the basement, or on the kitchen counter. These methods encourage growth of harmful bacteria.
There are three ways to defrost food – in the refrigerator, in a sealed package in cold water, and in the microwave oven.
Food thawed in the refrigerator can be refrozen without cooking. Plan ahead because food may take several hours to thaw in the refrigerator (or even days for turkeys).
Food defrosted in cold water or in the microwave should be cooked immediately.
As soon as you get home, immediately place cold perishables in the refrigerator or the freezer.
Hot perishable foods from the Deli need to be kept at 140 degrees F or above, or consumed within two hours.
If you have hot Deli foods to be eaten at a later time (such as leftovers, etc.), place them in shallow, covered containers and refrigerate or freeze within two hours.
Reheat Deli foods to 165 degrees F.
Raw fruit and vegetables can be held at room temperature, stored in the refrigerator, or frozen. For most produce, refrigeration is the best way to maintain quality and delay ripening.
Wash produce under running water before preparation.
Once fruits and vegetables are cut, chopped or cooked, they should be placed in the refrigerator within two hours, or frozen in plastic freezer containers.
Leave meat, poultry and seafood in the store packaging before using. Repeated handling can introduce bacteria into food products.
Store opened food in foil, plastic wrap, leak-proof plastic bags, or air-tight food storage containers to keep these food items 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 or marinate meat in the refrigerator – never on the kitchen counter.
Place meat, poultry and seafood items on the lowest shelf to minimize leakage onto other stored food items.
Clean the refrigerator regularly to remove spoiled food, odors and bacteria. Do not overload the refrigerator. Air must be allowed to circulate freely to cool all foods evenly.
*Info provided by Publix Supermarkets, Lakeland, FL.
