Your Safe Kitchen: Keeping food safe before getting it home

What is the cause of food-borne illness?
In a nutshell, food-borne illness - also known as 'food poisoning' -
is caused by ingesting pathogenic bacteria. This is often a cause of illness.

Different bacteria are present in different foods
Some are more common in particular situations. For example poultry and eggs are most often found with Salmonella and E.Coli on vegetables and meats. Staph and Clostridium Perfringens are commonly found on human hands - it can be transferred by food handlers and in public spaces, like buffets. This was not written to freak you out or give you one more thing to worry about. This is my effort to empower you with knowledge so you can take steps to improve the quality of your health through preventative methods and making informed decisions.

About mold on food
Molds are NOT bacteria.
A cool resource to learn about it - http://www.fsis.usda.gov/fact_sheets/molds_on_food/index.asp

Preventing food-borne illness is something we can do with ease
Temperature controls and safe handling are super easy ways to prevent the creation of an ideal environment for food-pathogens, which result food-borne illness.


(1) When shopping, pick up frozen and refrigerated food items last
This is the first place we can exercise safe food handling.
Since time seems to be a vacuum whenever I walk into a grocery store, this is where we have to be mindful of time and storage. Be sure to wander through the store selecting the shelf-stable (room temperature, non-produce) items first. This ensures that food remains as cold as possible before check out until you can get it home to store it properly.

(2) Read Labels
If you or someone in your life is living with food allergies and/or intolerances, hopefully you are already doing this. Reading the labels is not only for ingredients, but nutritional labels, ideal storage and 'use by' or 'sell by' dates. The manufacturer will likely tell you the best means for storing their merchandise and for how long.

(3) Wrap and separate meat, poultry and seafood
Protect all of your foods by placing meat, poultry and seafood in a plastic bag to prevent transfer of bacteria or liquids (cross-contamination) during unintentional contact.

(4) Separate food in your cart
Whether or not you are picking up a few quick items or doing your shopping for the week, be sure to separate your foods in your shopping cart as well as in your shopping bags. This is another step to prevent cross-contamination.

(5) Check the weather before grocery shopping
As warm weather approaches, it would benefit us to remember the 'temperature danger zones' and the '2-hour rule'.
When the temperature outdoors reaches 90 degrees F or above, you should refrigerate perishables after 1 hour. Many bacteria, including food-borne pathogens propagate best temperatures between 40 degrees Fahrenheit and 140 degrees Fahrenheit. The key is to always refrigerate food within 2 hours. Think of it as the '2-hour Rule'.

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SOURCE: USDA 'Kitchen Companion' - Your Safe Food Handbook