Food Safety at Home, School and Work

CLEAN- Thoroughly wash your hands and cooking surfaces

• Always wash your hands for at least 20 seconds before handling food; after handling raw meat, poultry, eggs and seafood; and after changing diapers, touching pets and using the washroom.

• Clean and then sanitize counter tops, cutting boards and cooking utensils with a mild bleach solution (5ml/1 tsp. bleach per 750ml/3 cups water) before and after food preparation and between uses from raw meats to ready to eat foods.

• Discard worn cutting boards/utensils that cannot be easily cleaned.

SEPARATE– Avoid cross contamination

Did you know that improper handling of raw meat, poultry and seafood can create an inviting environment for cross-contamination? As a result, bacteria can spread to other foods and/or surfaces throughout the kitchen. To avoid cross contamination:

• Food safety starts when you shop: separate raw meat, poultry and seafood from other foods in your grocery shopping cart, when bagging your groceries and in your refrigerator.
• Seal raw meat, poultry and seafood in air-tight containers or plastic bags and place them on the bottom shelves of your refrigerator to prevent juices from dripping onto other food.              
• Clean and then sanitize counter tops, cutting boards and utensils with a mild bleach solution (5ml/1 tsp. bleach per 750ml/3 cups water) after they come into contact with raw meats/hazardous foods.
• Consider using paper towels to wipe kitchen surfaces or change dishcloths daily to avoid spreading bacteria and, possibly, cross-contamination. Avoid using sponges because they are harder to keep bacteria-free, or wash them frequently in hot, soapy water.
• If possible, use one cutting board for fresh produce and use a separate one for raw meat, poultry and seafood.

SAFE STORAGE - Store food safely to avoid foodborne illness

CHILL - When in doubt, throw it out. Use the “two hour rule” when you are shopping, cooking, and serving

• Refrigerate or freeze food within two hours of preparing it or buying it. 
• If hazardous food has been at room temperature for two hours or more, throw it out. 
• On a hot day, foods like meat and dairy products may only last an hour without refrigeration.
• Don’t over-fill the refrigerator. Cold air needs to circulate above and beneath food to keep it safe.
• Check out SWPHs Food Safety and Power Outages for information on what to do during a power outage.

COOK - Take the guess work out of cooking

One of the most important tools you can keep in your kitchen is a good quality thermometer. Cooking meats/hazardous foods to the correct internal temperature is the final step in ensuring that the food you eat and serve is safe.

Cooking times vary for meats, poultry and fish, and depend on the cut, which include:

• Whole poultry: 82°C
• Ground poultry, poultry parts, poultry pieces: 74°C
• Food mixtures containing poultry, eggs, meat, fish, or other hazardous foods: 74°C
• Seafood: 74°C
• Pork, pork products, ground meat other than ground poultry: 71°C
• Fish: 70°C

After cooking, keep foods out of the “danger zone” (4°C to 60°C or 40°F to 140°F) by preparing them quickly and serving them immediately.

When cooking in a microwave oven, make sure the food is cooked thoroughly. For best results, cover food, stir, and rotate for even cooking and follow suggested standing times.

For more information, visit Health Canada's Safe Internal Cooking Temperatures and print the Safe Internal Cooking Temperatures Chart for proper cooking temperatures of high risk food items.