Making sure food is safe to eat is really important for both people who cook at home and those who cook in restaurants. If food isn’t handled properly, it can make people sick and give places a bad reputation. To reduce these risks and keep food safe, it’s important to follow some rules. Here are 10 important things to remember for handling food safely:
1. Personal hygiene
Your hands are the biggest medium for conveying germs, which can cause foodborne illnesses. Therefore, wash your hands properly before and after preparing food. Keep your nails short to prevent the accumulation of germs. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, especially before and after handling food, using the restroom, or touching your face. Use hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available. Ensure that your hair does not fall into the food; if you are working in a professional kitchen, use a head cover. Keep your hair tied back and avoid touching your face, hair, or body while preparing food. Wear clean clothing and aprons while cooking to prevent contamination.
2. Clean Surfaces Regularly
Ensure that your working surface, such as the table surface and stove top, is sufficiently clean while you work. Use sanitizer spray to clean the surface. After completing your tasks, clean your working station again before leaving the kitchen. Ensure that all kitchen surfaces, including countertops, cutting boards, and utensils, are cleaned regularly with hot, soapy water to prevent the spread of bacteria and germs.
3. Health awareness
When you sneeze, you must cover your mouth with your hands, as the inner environment of our mouth is ideal for growing bacteria. Sneezing or coughing without covering can be dangerous for others. If you have a runny nose, you must leave the kitchen; it’s imperative not to work in the kitchen under these circumstances, as it violates food and safety laws. Always remember to wash your hands after removing them from your mouth.
4. Allergy guideline
It’s important to have proper knowledge about allergy guidelines. Every professional kitchen has an allergy guideline that must be followed. Additionally, in your own home, it’s crucial to be aware of your family members’ health and any allergies they may have. Someone in the household might have issues with gluten, nuts, milk, or lactose, so it’s essential to consider this when preparing meals.
Stay updated on food safety guidelines and recommendations from reputable sources such as government health agencies or food safety organizations.
5. Prevention of food poisoning
There are categorical rules you must follow to prevent food poisoning. For instance, you should always keep raw food and cooked food separate. The surface or table you use for preparing raw food should not be used for preparing cooked food. Use different surfaces for different categories of food. Even in small kitchens, separate places should be chosen for different tasks. This aspect is often overlooked in homes, but it should be strongly considered; otherwise, someone may get sick or even die. Use separate cutting boards and utensils for raw meats, poultry, and seafood to avoid cross-contamination with ready-to-eat foods.
Once, a lady went to a restaurant and ordered a chicken dish. However, the chicken was not properly cooked. Within 24 hours, the lady was attacked by the Salmonella virus and she died.
6. Food preparation
The first condition is that we have to cook any food at an ideal temperature, which is 70°C. Every cooked dish, whether it’s meat or vegetables, has to reach a temperature of 70°C. In terms of timing, every cooking process should last a minimum of 2 minutes and sustain a temperature of 70°C to ensure that all bacteria are eradicated during this time. After ensuring this, cook your food to your desired taste or for the required time.
To check the core temperature of your food, use a digital probe like this.
7. Preservation policy
There are two policies for food preservation:
- Cooling: If you don’t need to serve food immediately, cool it down. This cooling process should start within 30 minutes. When reserving food in the fridge, the temperature should be between 2°C and 5°C. However, when serving food, the temperature should not fall below 60°C.
- Chilling or Freezing: Food should be chilled to between 0°C and 3°C within 90 minutes. The first 30 minutes are for bringing the food to room temperature, followed by 60 minutes for the freezing process.
8. Separate container in fridge
Store perishable foods in the refrigerator or freezer to prevent bacteria from multiplying. Keep raw meats and seafood separate from other foods to avoid contamination. Use separate containers to store your food, and avoid using the same shelf to store raw meat and vegetables together. Typically, fridges have three layers. The bottom layer is for raw meat that will be cooked within 2 to 5 hours. The second layer is used for all cooked food, and the top layer is used for dessert items. You can organize your fridge accordingly. Each container should be separate and sealed. You can also use labels on your containers, indicating the date.
Cooked food should not be consumed after three days from the date labeled. For frozen cooked food, it can be kept for a maximum of 15 days. Frozen raw meat can be kept for up to 45 days. Failure to comply with these guidelines would violate food safety laws.
9. Reheating and Serving
Food should be reheated within 30 minutes of removal from the refrigerator, and the core temperature should reach a minimum of 70°C. For those living in Canada or Scotland, the food temperature after reheating should be 82°C or higher. Once reheated, the food should be served within 15 minutes. If unable to serve within 15 minutes, consider keeping the food in the oven to maintain a temperature of 70°C or place it outside the fridge 45 minutes before serving to allow it to reach room temperature. Complete the reheating process within 10 to 15 minutes before eating or serving.
Avoid returning reheated food to the fridge, whether in a professional kitchen or at home. Always reheat food as needed.
10. Dispose of Waste Properly
Dispose of food waste and garbage promptly to prevent the spread of bacteria and pests. Use separate bins for different types of garbage. Keep trash bins clean and covered to reduce odors and the risk of attracting pests.
Following these 10 important rules for handling food safely helps both home cooks and chefs reduce risks, keep people healthy, and maintain the quality of their food. It’s essential to remember that everyone plays a part in keeping food safe. By making safety a priority, we help make sure our communities stay healthy and that dining out is safer for everyone.