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HOME & HEARTH
Stay Food-Healthy: Tips for Avoiding Food Poisoning
By USDA
With so much focus on various health-related issues, it’s easy to forget the basics. Food poisoning is one of them.
Food poisoning or foodborne illness can affect anyone who eats food contaminated by bacteria, viruses, parasites, toxins or other substances. Still, certain people are more likely to get sick or to have a severe illness. Here are some tips to help keep your family in good health.
Know Who Is at Risk
Know whether you’re in a group of people who are more likely to get food poisoning, and make safer choices to reduce your risk for foodborne illness.
People at risk include: n Adults age 65 and older n Children younger than 5 years n People whose immune systems are weakened due to illness or medical treatment n Pregnant women
If you or someone you care for is included in one of these groups, follow our four necessary steps to food safety and the additional tips included below.
Clean: Wash hands and surfaces often.
Separate: Separate raw meat and poultry from ready-to-eat food.
Cook: Cook food to the right temperature.
Chill: Chill raw meat and poultry, as well as cooked leftovers, promptly (within two hours).
Becoming a Safer Shopper
n Do not buy or use damaged, swollen, rusted or dented cans. n Choose unbruised fruits and vegetables. n Do not buy or use cracked or unrefrigerated eggs. n Pick up frozen and refrigerated items just before you check out at the grocery store. n Refrigerate groceries right away and never leave perishable foods out for more than two hours. n Put raw packaged meat, poultry or seafood into a plastic bag before placing it in the shopping cart, so that its juices will not drip on and contaminate other foods.
Dining Out
n Ask whether the food contains raw or undercooked ingredients such as eggs, sprouts, meat, poultry or seafood.
If so, choose something else. n Ask how these foods have been cooked. If the server does not know the answer, ask to speak to the chef to be sure your food has been cooked to a safe minimum internal temperature. n If you plan to save leftovers to eat later, refrigerate perishable foods as soon as possible — and always within two hours after purchase or delivery. If the leftover is in air temperatures above 90°F, refrigerate within one hour. n If in doubt, make another selection.
Leftovers
n Discard any food left out at room temperature for more than two hours — one hour if the outside temperature is above 90°F. n Place food into shallow containers and immediately put in the refrigerator or freezer for rapid cooling. n Use cooked leftovers within four days. n Reheat leftovers to 165°F.
It’s easy to slip into bad habits that can lead to food poisoning, but with a little preparation and education, you can keep yourself and your family food-healthy!
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