How to Keep Food Safe from the Store to Your Kitchen
July 4, 2012
•Le Cordon Bleu
•Austin
• 0 Comments
How to Keep Food Safe from the Store to Your Kitchen
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are more than 250 different foodborne diseases.*They estimate that foodborne diseases cause nearly 76 million illnesses and 5,000 deaths every year in the United States. Those statistics are serious enough for all of us to be more vigilant in our food handling and safety procedures, especially when purchasing and bringing home from the grocery store. Austin culinary schools may teach proper food safety for the kitchen, but we all could use a refresher on how to handle food at and coming home from the grocery.
The Shopping Cart Is the Dangerous Thing in the Grocery
From unwashed hands on handles to dirty diapers in the seats to unclean shoes in the basket, shopping carts are a breeding ground for germs and bacteria. A recent University of Arizona study showed that 72% of shopping cart handles tested positive for fecal matter, and 50% tested positive for E. coli bacteria. This, of course, doesn’t mean that you are guaranteed to get sick from touching those handles. There is cause, however, to take precautions. A quick application of hand sanitizer can clean things up quickly.
Keep Foods Cool and Separated
Le Cordon Bleu training tells students that there are two important factors when considering food safety: temperature and contamination. To maintain food safety you must keep refrigerated foods at 40 degrees F or lower. Leaving them in bags in the back of the SUV while you run other errands is flirting with danger. Disease-causing microbes thrive at temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees F. Get those frozen and refrigerated foods home as quickly as possible.
Keeping raw meats away from other foods is second only to temperature control in food safety. Juices from meats can easily cross-contaminate other foods, especially produce. And don’t think that you’re safe if all of your other foods are canned or boxed. The meat juices can still escape and get on the boxes, jars, and cans, which then get on your hands and everything else you touch. Use store-provided plastic bags to keep meats isolated.
Tips for Food Safety from the Grocery to Your Kitchen
Statistically speaking, the grocery store is no more germ-ridden than the average home, but taking some basic precautions when shopping can greatly reduce the risk that you and your family will contract a foodborne illness. These simple tips can be very helpful:
- Sanitize shopping cart handles
- Always put produce and other unwrapped foods in plastic bags
- Place raw meats and fish in plastic bags
- Keep raw meats away from other foods, especially produce
- Don’t let your kids sit and/or stand in the basket
- Check the temperature of store refrigerators and freezers
- Avoid choosing foods that are partially thawed or not cold to the touch
- Purchase frozen and refrigerated foods last
- Transport frozen and refrigerated foods in coolers or insulated bags to maintain temperature
- Go straight home if you’ve purchased refrigerated or frozen food items
- Put groceries away immediately upon returning home
Don’t be one of the millions of statistics from foodborne illnesses. You don’t have to be a graduate of Austin’s culinary schools to know the importance of proper food safety procedures. Taking care before you get your food home is not only smart but easy to do.
*http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/foodborneinfections_g.htm
This article is presented by Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Austin. Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Austin offers culinary arts and pâtisserie and baking training programs in Austin, Texas. To learn more about the class offerings, please visit Chefs.edu/Austin for more information.
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