Every year 1 in 6 Americans gets sick from food borne illnesses according to the CDC. Cross-contamination, the primary culprit, is the transfer of harmful bacteria from raw meats, poultry or seafood to other foods that you eat. Here are a few simple things you can do to keep this from happening at your house.
First, when shopping, wipe down your cart handles and the child seat area with the sanitizer cloths provided at the store. Make sure to keep raw meats in plastic bags away from your other foods to prevent contamination in your basket and at the check-out counter. Remember the conveyor belts at the checkout can be covered with harmful bacteria so make sure that your fruits and vegetables are bagged when checking out and wash them well at home.
Most cross-contamination occurs during food preparation. Often what happens is that raw meats are prepared on counter tops or cutting boards that are not properly sanitized before preparing other raw or cooked foods for consumption. Remember to wash your hands and surfaces with soap and water and to sanitize your surfaces with 1 tablespoon of bleach per gallon of hot water.
If your cutting boards have lots of cut marks on them, think about getting new ones as bacteria breeds more easily in these crevices. Restaurants use color-coded cutting boards; red is for raw meat, yellow for raw poultry, blue for raw seafood and green for produce. Consider getting these boards for your home, attending a workshop on safety and sanitation in the kitchen or attend a ServSafe Certification program at ShareKitchen beginning next month.
Upcoming – Information Workshop – Saturday, November 3rd from 3-5 pm for kitchen rental information, a tour of ShareKitchen and all the questions you can ask. Reserve your space today at www.ShareKitchen.org.
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