Comprehensive Guide to Home Food Safety Practices

Home Food Safety Manual Penny Sprague American Military University Practical Food Safety and Awareness 110 Mr. Steven Cooke April 30, 2023

1 Table of Contents Introduction to Food Safety Page 2 How Food Can Become Contaminated in the Kitchen Pages 3-4 Safe Purchasing Practices Page 5 Safe Storage Practices Page 6 Safe Preparation Practices Pages 7-8 Household Food Safety Pages 9-10 References Page 11

2 Introduction to Food Safety To start with the definition of food safety should be known. The definition “refers to the conditions and practices that preserve the quality of food to prevent contamination and foodborne illnesses” (US. Department of Agriculture [USDA], 2022). So what does this mean in the home? Shop at places that you know are safe. Do some research, trust the place you shop at, and know how to bring home the food and products. Although food safety is important food security is also essential; “ food security is when all people at all times have access to nutritious, safe, and enough food to enable them to lead a healthy, active life”. What does this mean for home cooking? At any point at home, you should have food that is both healthy and gives you energy. Also, this means no expired food in the fridge and cabinets. If you have expired food throw it away, and purchase new safe food. Knowing what food safety is and how to archive it is important not only at restaurants but also at home. Truth be told food safety at home is more important. Home is where you spend a good portion of your time. You want to make sure what you are putting in your body is good for you and also still good. Sell-by dates are important. They tell you that food is safe to eat. As we go on this you will know the proper techniques for washing hands, and produce, how things should be cooked, and if you ever cook anything in my home there are some helpful tips for that as well. Things will get more in-depth and hopefully will help you be able to cook properly and have the confidence to cook instead of eating out all the time.

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3 How Food Can Become Contaminated in the Kitchen Food contamination is a very serious thing. It can lead to serious illness. The easiest way to prevent food contamination is to wash your hands. The proper way to wash your hands is hot water and soup. Scrub for the length of the birthday song twice. Do not forget to get under your nails. When you get done rinse and dry your hands with a clean towel or paper towels. Even though you have clean hands and food, cross-contamination can still happen. “Cross-contamination is the physical movement or transfer of harmful bacteria from one person, object, or place to another” (Department of Health, 2023). Cross-contamination can happen by “using the same knife, cutting board, or other utensils without washing the surface or utensils between uses” (Department of Health, 2023). Even if food is fully cooked, it can be affected by cross-contamination. How does that happen? If you use your thermometer to check on food and don’t clean it before you check it, use a different spoon to stir something and use it again to stir another thing. There are four main routes for contamination, they are “cross-contamination, improper hand washing, inappropriate storage and temperatures, and animal waste” (Sarah Moore, 2000-2023). Animal waste is rodents, bugs, and even pets. To combat contamination wash your hands regularly. Also, remember to clean kitchen gadgets. The kitchen gadgets that get forgotten are “can openers, cutting boards, countertops, dishrags, towels, sponges, scrubbers, garbage disposals, sink drains, refrigerators, food processors, blenders, and egg beaters” (University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester New York, 2023). Kitchen gadgets get forgotten about and they carry a lot of harmful bacteria that a

4 lot of people forget about. After using certain gadgets be sure to clean them as you go. Can openers, cutting boards, countertops, food processors, blenders, and egg beaters can all be washed as you go. Towels and dishrags can be washed after you are completely done cooking. Refrigerators should be cleaned inside and out weekly.

5 Safe Purchasing Practices I shop at Aldis for the most part. The food is a lot fresher than Walmart and the store is cleaner as well. However even though I do my food shopping at Aldis, I do have to get my cleaning supplies at Walmart, and my hair dye. Sometimes I go to Sam’s Club with my neighbor. The downside is Aldis is about 30 minutes away. Before I go to Aldis I clean my refrigerator, I check the food I have bought, and make a list of what I need. Aldis does not have baggers, so I bag things myself. I use reusable bags, and they get cleaned monthly. When I buy meat I use separate bags, so the blood from the raw meat does not get on everything else. I don’t buy dented cans or food that is close to the expiration date. My colds like dairy and meat get picked up last, that’s why they stay cold a little bit longer and stay fresh longer. Because of how far Aldis is from my home I have a freezer bag that I put my cold stuff in first. The freezer things go in first then my refrigerator items. Lisa Treiber recommends all these and “clean hands before sampling food” (2015). Now Aldis does not have food to sample however when I go to Sam’s Club with my neighbor we both use hand sanitizer and make sure the employee is wearing gloves. When at Aldis I look for the cans that are not dented. The packages of food that are not bloated, or have holes in them. If something is sticky I put it back. I also don’t buy food that I do not recognize the brand. Many people say don’t buy and consume food that you don’t know how to pronounce the ingredients. If I were to do that unfortunately I would not eat a lot.

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6 Safe Storage Practices Do you know what the proper temperature for the refrigerator is? What about the freezer? “The refrigerator should be kept at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit and the freezer should be at zero degrees Fahrenheit” (FDA, 2023). When meat is on sale I buy it. When I get new meat I put the new meat in the back and put the old meat up front. Pasta is the same way. I put the pasta in a cupboard by the stove. I rotate the stock constantly. First in, first out is how rotation should be done. My cold stuff gets put away instantly when I get home. My cold stuff gets taken out of the cold bag from the store. With my cold stuff, there is not much rotation though the dates are very important. Without having dates my dairy would go bad. The best buy dates are very important. Dairy and cold items need to be used and sold before that date. After that date throw it away. It will begin to spoil and smell horrible. Some people will eat or drink expired dairy. If you want to do this, smell it and make sure it is still okay to eat or drink. Ready-to-eat food needs to be eaten within the day you buy it or the next day. Ready-to- eat food needs to be used and eaten faster than perishable food. Perishable food can be saved for as long as it still is good. How do you tell if perishable food is good? If cans leek, not good. If bags of food have holes it’s safe to assume that it still is not good. Keeping food in air-tight containers also helps keep food fresher for longer. Also keeps things from getting into the food.

7 Safe Preparation Practices At work I would waer depending on the day would depend on the uniform but it was consistent of a t shirt, pants, boots, and a hat. Now at home its a t shirt, pants or shorts. When my husband cooks it at least a pair of pants or shorts. We both have cooking experience for the military. We both know the proper cooking requirements. However when we are at home cooking we’re both safe but we dile it down some. We don’t yell knife, or hot pan. We just know to stay out of the others way. When its just me at home I chop things that need to be chopped before hand. When its both of us he’ll chop. I am very big on my food being cooked all the way through “Pan American Health Organization, (PAHO), N/A). I don’t like my steak to have red in it at all, where Chris does. I am in charge of left overs. I let them cool then I put in containers then time and date them when they go in the refrigerator. When I eat leftovers I reheat all my leftovers to 165 degrees Farenhit. Chris doesn’t really like left overs witch is fine with me. At home or at work I wash my hands repeatedly. I do not like the feeling of food on my hands. That also helps with “avoding contact between raw foods and cooked foods” (PAHO, N/A). When either of us cook the temperature of the food needs to be at or above the minimum temperature. I love seafood, shrimp and fish. When fish is done it should be flaky, and when shrimp is done it turns white, but no matter if its flaky or white the temperature needs to be at 145 degrees fahrenheit (H-E-B, LP Mexico, 2023). Like I said earlier I do not like my steak red, chris does, but if the steak is at least 145 degrees fahrenheit I will be okay. I eat a lot of chicken and as long as it is at least 165 degrees fahrenheit its okay to eat. These are just the minimums. I

8 tend to cook my food longer then thise temperatures. When it hits them when Chris is cooking he calls it good.

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9 Household Food Safety These are my rules, my husband does not care as much as I do. All though we do have some of the same ones. I’ll mark those with an *. He has his own set of rules. I don’t know his rules they change, based on what he is cooking. ● Before you cook or bake anything wash the dish. They may already be clean, but Shadow’s hair gets everywhere. ● Speaking of Shadow, she will lay in Infront of the stove, push her out of the way beforehand and while you are cooking. ● Shadow thinks she must taste test everything, and tell her to go lie down. ● Do not pet Shadow as you are cooking or baking. ● The stove is weird, the first burner on the left in the front (the big one up front) does NOT turn on high unless you hit it with the pan, BE CAREFUL this could burn you. The other burners work fine. ● When messing with raw meat (ground meat, beef, sausage, chicken) and dough take your rings off. * ● One side of the sink has a garbage disposal, DO NOT stick your hands down it. * ● When using the garbage disposal run water with it. *

10 ● To clean the garbage disposal put ice, lemon juice, baking powder, and vinegar down and turn it on. ● The spatulas are plastic and not thick plastic, DO NOT leave them on the burner, they will melt and smell horrible. * ● If the doorbell rings, or someone knocks WASH your hands before answering the door and afterward. ● DO NOT walk away from cooking, Shadow has been known to jump and try and grab what is up there. * ● Crack the window in the kitchen before cooking, it can get smoky in the house. * ● Turn the fan on above the stove as well it helps. *

11 References Food Contamination and Foodborne Illness Prevention, Department of Health, April 3,2023, https://www.health.state.mn.us/people/foodsafety/prevention.html#:~:text=Microbes %20can%20be%20transferred%20from,raw%20foods%20that%20contain%20pathogens . Are You Storing Food Safely?, F.D.A, January 18, 2023, https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/are-you-storing-food-safely Cooking Temps for Meat & Seafood, H-E-B, LP, Mexico, 2023, https://www.heb.com/recipe/recipe-article/cooking-temps-for-meat-seafood/1392677043597 How does Food get Contaminated?, Sarah Moore, 2000-2023, https://www.azolifesciences.com/article/How-does-Food-get-Contaminated.aspx#:~:text=There %20are%20four%20main%20routes,and%20contamination%20by%20animal%20waste .

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12 WHO "Golden Rules" for Safe Food Preparation, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), N/A, https://www.paho.org/en/health-emergencies/who-golden-rules-safe-food- preparation Grocery shopping skills to keep your food safe, Lisa Treiber, January 21, 2015, https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/grocery_shopping_skills_to_keep_your_food_safe What does food safety mean?, U.S. Department of Agruulture (USDA), October 11, 2022, https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/What-does-food-safety-mean

Home Food Safety Manual

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