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Nutrition Library: Food Safety

Rate your kitchen on this food safety test

What comes to mind when you think of a clean kitchen? Shiny waxed floors? Gleaming stainless steel sinks? Spotless counters and neatly arranged cupboards?

They can help, but a truly "clean" kitchen--that is, one that ensures safe food--relies on more than just looks: It also depends on safe food practices.

In the home, food safety concerns revolve around three main functions: food storage, food handling, and cooking. To see how well you're doing in each, take this quiz, and then read on to learn how you can make the meals and snacks from your kitchen the safest possible.

Quiz

Choose the answer that best describes the practice in your household, whether or not you are the primary food handler.

1. The temperature of the refrigerator in my home is:

a. 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius)

b. 41 F (5 C)

c. I don't know; I've never measured it.

2. The last time we had leftover cooked stew or other food with meat, chicken or fish, the food was:

a. cooled to room temperature, then put in the refrigerator

b. put in the refrigerator immediately after the food was served

c. left at room temperature overnight or longer

3. The last time the kitchen sink drain, disposal and connecting pipe in my home were sanitized was:

a. last night

b. several weeks ago

c. can't remember

4. If a cutting board is used in my home to cut raw meat, poultry or fish and it is going to be used to chop another food, the board is:

a. reused as is

b. wiped with a damp cloth

c. washed with soap and hot water and sanitized with a mild chlorine bleach solution

5. The last time we had hamburgers in my home, I ate mine:

a. rare

b. medium

c. well-done

6. The last time there was cookie dough in my home, the dough was:

a. made with raw eggs, and I sampled some of it

b. store-bought, and I sampled some of it

c. not sampled until baked

7. I clean my kitchen counters and other surfaces that come in contact with food with:

a. water

b. hot water and soap

c. hot water and soap, then bleach solution

d. hot water and soap, then commercial sanitizing agent

8. When dishes are washed in my home, they are:

a. cleaned by an automatic dishwasher and then air-dried

b. left to soak in the sink for several hours and then washed with soap in the same water

c. washed right away with hot water and soap in the sink and then air-dried

d. washed right away with hot water and soap in the sink and immediately towel-dried

9. The last time I handled raw meat, poultry or fish, I cleaned my hands afterwards by:

a. wiping them on a towel

b. rinsing them under hot, cold or warm tap water

c. washing with soap and warm water

10. Meat, poultry and fish products are defrosted in my home by:

a. setting them on the counter

b. placing them in the refrigerator

c. microwaving

Answers

Refrigerators should stay at 41 F (5 C) or less, so if you chose answer B, give yourself two points. If you didn't, you're not alone. According to Joseph Madden, Ph.D., strategic manager for microbiology in the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, many people overlook the importance of maintaining an appropriate refrigerator temperature.

"According to surveys, in many households, the refrigerator temperature is above 50 degrees (10 C)," he said.

His advice: Measure the temperature with a thermometer and, if needed, adjust the refrigerator's temperature control dial.

A temperature of 41 F (5 C) or less is important because it slows the growth of most bacteria. The temperature won't kill the bacteria, but it will keep them from multiplying, and the fewer there are, the less likely you are to get sick from them.

Freezing at zero F (minus 18 C) or less stops bacterial growth (although it won't kill all bacteria already present).

Answer B is the best practice; give yourself two points if you picked it.

Hot foods should be refrigerated as soon as possible within two hours after cooking. But don't keep the food if it's been standing out for more than two hours. Don't taste test it, either. Even a small amount of contaminated food can cause illness.

Date leftovers so they can be used within a safe time. Generally, they remain safe when refrigerated for three to five days. If in doubt, throw it out, says former FDA microbiologist Jeffery Rhodehamel, now with W.R. Grace and Co.. "It's not worth a food-borne illness for the small amount of food usually involved."

If answer A best describes your household's practice, give yourself two points. Give yourself one point if you chose B.

According to FDA's Madden, the kitchen sink drain, disposal and connecting pipe are often overlooked, but they should be sanitized periodically by pouring down the sink a solution of 1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) of chlorine bleach in 1 quart (about 1 liter) of water or a solution of commercial kitchen cleaning agent made according to product directions. Food particles get trapped in the drain and disposal and, along with the moistness, create an ideal environment for bacterial growth.

If answer C best describes your household's practice, give yourself two points. Washing with soap and hot water and then sanitizing with a mild bleach solution is the safest practice, said Dhirendra Shah, Ph.D., director of the division of microbiological studies in FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

If you picked A, you're violating an important food safety rule: Never allow raw meat, poultry and fish to come in contact with other foods. Answer B isn't good, either. Improper washing, such as with a damp cloth, will not remove bacteria.

Give yourself two points if you picked answer C.

The safest way to eat hamburgers is to cook them until they are no longer red in the middle and the juices run clear. That doesn't happen with rare-cooked meats, and it may not happen with medium-cooked ones. Cooking food, including ground meat patties, to an internal temperature of at least 160 F (71 C) usually protects against food-borne illness. Well-done meats reach that temperature.

To be on the safe side, check cooked meat, fish and poultry with a meat thermometer to ensure that they have reached a safe internal temperature.

For microwaved food, follow directions, including the standing time, either in or out of the microwave, after cooking. Microwave cooking creates pockets of heat in the food, but allowing the food to stand before eating allows the heat to spread to the rest of the food.

If you answered A, you may be putting yourself at risk for infection with Salmonella enteritidis, a bacterium that can be in shell eggs. Cooking the egg or egg-containing food product to at least 140 F (60 C) kills the bacteria. So answer C--eating the baked product--will earn you two points.

You'll get two points for answer B, also. Foods containing raw eggs, such as homemade ice cream, cake batter, mayonnaise, and eggnog, carry a Salmonella risk, but their commercial counterparts don't. Co



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