Family Food Safety

So much parental time and energy are spent scrutinizing food labels, reading up on the best foods to give your baby, making sure your toddler eats enough, and that your kids develop healthy eating habits that one vital component often gets overlooked and that is food safety. Food safety involves everything from the selection of a food from its source all the way through cooking to proper storage ensuring that illness causing bacteria don’t make their way into our food and ultimately our bodies. When we think of keeping little ones safe, we often think of childproofing homes or using a car seat, but food safety is just as important. Whether you make your own baby food, purchase food from a store, or a combination of both, following a few simple steps can make sure your whole family is eating safe food. Here are the 5 most common causes food safety issues arise:

1. Purchasing food from unsafe sources: Check foods for proper seals, expiration dates, and clean packaging.  Also make sure refrigerated foods are cold and frozen foods are frozen at time of purchase.
2. Failing to cook food adequately: Always have a meat thermometer on hand to ensure all meats and poultry are cooked to the proper temperature.
3. Holding food at incorrect temperatures: Keep foods out of the “danger zone” or between 41-139 degrees which are prime temps for bacterial growth.  Keep cold foods at 40◦F or lower and hot foods at 140◦F or higher.
4. Using contaminated equipment: Do not touch raw foods, such as chicken, and then touch food that will not be cooked, like raw veggies or fruits. Keep work surfaces and equipment clean by using the “clean-as-you-go” method. Use a scrub brush as much as possible, avoid sponges, and always clean food contact surfaces when working with different food items; particularly between preparing raw and cooked food items.
5. Practicing poor personal hygiene: Proper hand washing is critical to prevent the spread of bacteria. Wash hands thoroughly with soap, hot water, and a nail brush prior to touching food. Wash hands in-between touching different ingredients during food preparation.