Food safety tips
- Always wash your hands, utensils and cooking surfaces with soap and hot water:
- Before you handle food
- Repeatedly while you prepare it
- Again when you have finished
- Sanitize countertops, cutting boards and utensils with a mild bleach and water solution after washing and rinsing.
- Wash all produce under cool running water before eating or cooking.
- Keep certain foods, like meats and their juices, separated from other foods during storage and preparation.
- Use separate cutting boards for raw meats and vegetables. Always keep food covered.
- Store ready-to-eat foods above raw foods in your refrigerator to prevent cross-contamination.
- To avoid cross-contamination, store, handle, and prepare raw and cooked foods separately. Remember: Separate, don't cross-contaminate!
- Prepare foods quickly, cook them thoroughly and serve them immediately.
- Don't let foods linger at temperatures where bacteria can grow. The danger zone is between 4°C (39°F) and 60°C (140°F).
- Use a probe thermometer to check the internal temperature of food. Test the food at its thickest point. If you hit a bone, then you will get an incorrect reading.
- Whole poultry (chicken and turkey) 82°C / 180°F
- Poultry pieces, ground poultry 74°C / 165°F
- Ground meat (beef, pork, lamb) 71°C / 160°F
- Pork and pork products 71°C / 160°F
- Fish 70°C / 158°F
- To ensure that your analogue thermometer is accurately calibrated, test it using one of two methods:
- Ice point method
- Fill a container with crushed ice.
- Add clean tap water until the container is full and stir well.
- Insert the stem of your thermometer into the ice water to read the temperature.
- If your thermometer does not get a reading of 0°C (32°F), adjust the calibration nut under the head of the thermometer.
- Hold the head firmly in one hand while turning the calibration nut with a wrench or pliers until the indicator reads 0°C (32°F).
- Boiling point method
- Bring water to a full boil and stir to make sure the temperature is even throughout.
- Insert the stem of the thermometer into the boiling water until the indicator stabilizes.
- Adjust the calibration nut to read 100°C (212°F).
- Take altitude into account, as the boiling point of water drops about 1°F for every 550 feet above sea level.
Refrigerate or freeze perishables, prepared food and leftovers within two hours. To quickly and safely cook food:
- Divide large portions into smaller pieces. This will increase the surface area that is being cooled and reduce the amount of cooling time required.
- Use shallow pans for quick cooling
- Add ice cubes to the food, or cool by putting the container in an ice bath.
- Never leave hazardous food (e.g., poultry, meat, dairy) at room temperature or in the temperature "danger zone."
- Always keep cold foods at or below 4°C (39°F). Frozen foods must be stored at -18°C (0°F) or colder.
Fight BAC! campaign
Fight BAC! (external link) is a national food safety campaign that educates consumers about safe food handling practices in the home. It focuses on four food safety tips that people can follow to fight food-borne bacteria and reduce the risk of food-borne illness.
Fight BAC! was developed by the Canadian Partnership for Food Safety Education. As a member of the partnership, the Halton Region Health Department has created a series of posters to support the campaign locally. You can order the posters through the document repository.
- Cooking Temperatures
- Safe Food Storage Temperatures
- Wash Your Hands
- Dishwashing Machine
- Dishwashing: 3 Sink Method
- Dishwashing: 2 Sink Method
- How to mix a chlorine solution for sanitizing using bleach
Washing fruits and vegetables
Follow these tips to properly wash fresh fruits and vegetables:
- Before handling any foods, wash your hands with soap and water. Dry with a paper towel.
- After removing and disposing of the outer leaves of vegetables (e.g., lettuce, cabbage), wash your hands again.
- Wash all fruits and vegetables thoroughly in running water that is safe to drink. Use a clean colander or clean sink. Do not use soap or detergent, as they might be absorbed into the food.
- Use running water to rinse the fruits and vegetables. Do not soak lettuce or cabbage leaves in a sink of water.
- Use a clean brush to scrub the outside of melons, potatoes, carrots, and any other vegetables or fruit that have hard surfaces.
- Cut away any damaged or bruised areas, as harmful bacteria can live in these areas.
- Wash, rinse and sanitize the knife, cutting boards and surfaces after slicing produce.
- Always place washed produce in a clean container.
- Store fresh fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator at 4°C (40°F) within 2 hours of peeling or cutting. Discard the food if it is left at room temperature for 2 hours or more.