c o n tin u e d
o n
p a g e
2 3 8
better
HEALTH
FOOD SAFETY BASICS
2
3 6
A P R IL 2 0 1 0
B E T T E R H O M E S A N D G A R D E N S
BUYING
►CHECK EXPIRATION DATES
This may sound obvious, but
many of us don’t take the time to
hunt down that tiny print on
meat and milk. Also, buy
perishables that have been kept
cold and have no obvious
bruising or cracks.
►OPT FOR local Buy food
produced locally when you can.
“This means your food is less
likely to have been raised on a
large factory farm, where animals
are packed together, making it
easy to spread infections, or
imported from countries with
lax safety standards,” says
Robert Lawrence, M.D., director
of the Center for a Livable
Future at Johns Hopkins School
of Public Health.
But even going local doesn’t
guarantee safety. “ These
pathogens are pervasive; there’s
no reason they can’t reach your
local farmer’s animals as well,”
Rosenbaum notes. No matter
where you shop, pay attention
when recalls are announced.
(Visit
safetables.org
to sign up
for weekly e-mail alerts.)
PREPPING
►WASH YOUR HANDS About
2 0
percent of us don’t remember to
wash our hands or kitchen
surfaces before preparing food,
which means any bacteria
floating around is easily trans-
ferred to our meal. Soap up
before you start cooking.
►DON'T CROSS-CONTAMINATE
The golden rule of safe food
preparation: avoid cross-contami-
nation, says Joan Salge Blake, R.D.,
SINK
►SCRUB THE SINK
Your
sink can be home to
100,000
times the microbes as your
bathroom. Clean twice a week
with a mix of one tablespoon
bleach in a quart of water.
►never rinse raw meat
“Our moms taught us to rinse
meat before cooking, but we
now know this just splatters
bacteria around, to be picked
up by what you wash next,” says
Salge Blake, registered dietitian.
►clean that sponge
Run your sponge through the
hot cycle of your washing
machine whenever you do a
load to keep it bacteria-free.
And don’t use a dirty dishtowel
to dry clean dishes; throw it in
the wash after every use.
►
SKIP THE STORING
Never store food under your
sink; it can be contaminated by
moisture or cleaning supplies.
countertop
►use separate cutting
BOARDS
Designate one for
raw meat, poultry, and seafood,
another for prod uce.
►wash right away
Clean counters with soap and
•
water immediately after use,
then sanitize weekly with a
tablespoon of bleach
dissolved in a quart of water.
W H E R E F O O D C A N G O
W R O N G IN Y O U R K I T C H E N
FRIDGE
►keep IT cold
Your fridge
should stay at the most
40
°F,
0
°F for the freezer.
►
CLEAN REGULARLY
Every
1-3
months, mix a tablespoon
of baking soda dissolved in a
quart of water and wipe down
every inner surface.
►
LET IT COOL
Allow
boiling-hot food to cool before
you refrigerate so that the
container doesn’t warm food in
Hhe fridge.
