Food Safety Tips

Be Food Safe - Fight Bac!

Everyone who is involved in food production, from gate to plate, is responsible for ensuring that the consumer gets a safe product.

Working with our food producers, manufacturers and government agencies, we strive to provide safe, quality products for your family. You also have an important role to play. From the time your food leaves the store until it is consumed, we ask that you follow these safe food handling practices.

At the Grocery Store

Top 6 tips to protect your food while shopping.

  1. Choose dry and canned goods first. Cans that are dented or bloated at the seams should not be purchased.
  2. Purchase refrigerated and frozen items last to prevent them from warming up as you shop.
  3. Separate and double bag raw meats and poultry to prevent cross contamination of leaking juices to other food items in your cart.
  4. Choose hot deli items last if you are consuming it right away to ensure it stays hot to prevent bacteria growth. Have these items bagged separately to avoid warming of other products.
  5. Return home as soon as possible after grocery shopping to prevent cold items from warming up and allowing bacteria to grow. Bacteria can multiply rapidly and reach dangerous levels in the temperature range of 4 °C - 60 °C. If you can't return home immediately, put perishable food items in a cooler to keep things cool.
  6. Clean your reusable bags

At Home

Top 10 Tips to Prevent Food Borne Illnesses at Home

  1. Keep refrigerator 4 °C or less.
  2. Wash your hands with hot soapy water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling food.
  3. Refrigerate or freeze all foods within 2 hours after cooking.
  4. Sanitize all cloths and sponges regularly. A sanitizing solution can easily be made with 1 tsp of bleach to 3 cups of water. Clean counters and other surfaces with this bleach solution to prevent bacteria from spreading.
  5. Clean all cutting boards and knives with hot soapy water and sanitize with bleach solution for each different food item. For example, never cut vegetables on the same cutting board used to cut raw chicken without cleaning and sanitizing the cutting board first.
  6. Use a cooking thermometer to determine if meats are properly cooked to the proper internal temperature.
  7. Defrost food in the refrigerator, microwave or in a cold water bath changed every 30 minutes. Never defrost food at room temperature on the counter.
  8. Store raw meats double wrapped on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator to prevent raw juices from dripping onto other foods.
  9. Always marinade food in the refrigerator and never reuse the marinade to baste the cooking food. Make up new marinade to prevent cross contamination of the cooked food.
  10. Do not place cooked food on the same plate that held the raw meat, poultry or seafood unless the plate has been thoroughly washed.

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