Being Safe with Food

Food safety is just as important as making great food. The main categories of food safety are:

• Clean Hands
• Internal Temperature of Cooked Meats
• Cross-contamination

Clean Hands

You should always wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap before handling food. I have had food poisoning before from a restaurant. It takes at least 12 hours to set in and then the problems begin. It took at least several years for my stomach to get back to normal. Even then, my stomach really probably never fully recovered, I just got used to new problems. Do us all a favor and wash your filthy mitts before you rub them all over raw or cooked foods. As you will see in the section "Cross-contamination," there are also other times when it is appropriate to wash your hands when handling food.

Internal Temperature of Cooked Meats

The following chart shows commonly cooked meats and what the minimum internal temperature should be:

The above chart is why it's a good idea to have a digital thermometer designed to take the temperature of meat. There are several wireless devices on the market that will page you when the meat reaches a specified temperature. As an added bonus, a thermometer will increase your consistency and allow you to accurately reproduce your favorite "doneness" temperature.

Cross-contamination

Cross-contamination is a little less obvious. If you've ever worked in the restaurant industry, I'm sure you have heard this term. Cross-contamination occurs when the bacteria from one food item is able to contaminate another food item. An easy example would be if you went to a fast food restaurant and the clerk handling your money used their same unclean hands to stuff your fries in the bag. Pay attention next time you are in a drive-thru, you'd be surprised at how often simple mistakes like that are made.

This process can occur several ways. I'll provide several examples:

Example 1: You handled raw chicken and, without washing your hands, touched a cooked steak that was about to be served. Cross-contamination!

Example 2: You handled raw chicken and, without washing your hands, handled a raw steak. This is a less obvious example, but the two meats were still needlessly exposed to one another. You aren't going to cook the steak to the same temperature as the chicken? (Are you?)

Example 3: Follow the chain of events closely. You handled raw steak on a clean surface. You washed your hands to avoid contaminating other foods. You pick up some chicken and begin cutting it on the same surface as the steak. But wait a minute... you forgot to wash the surface. Cross-contamination!

Example 4: You are waiting on some steaks to finish cooking, and you decide to go ahead and put some raw chicken breasts on the grill with tongs. The steaks are done, so you go ahead and pick them up with the tongs and move them to a plate. Did you wash the tongs first? Cross-contamination!

Remember, to avoid cross-contamination you want to keep both your hands, preparation surfaces, and cooking tools clean.

Please visit the Links Page for links to government published resources on the topic of the safe handling of food.