Consumer Food Safety

Arm yourself with the facts about Avian Influenza.

To view an informational brochure published by the Food Marketing Institute Click here.

Protect your family's health with these basic steps.

• In addition to washing, you should peel and
  discard outer leaves or rinds.
• Scrub hearty vegetables, such as potatoes and
  carrots, if you want to eat the fiber and nutrient-rich skin.
• Clean surfaces (including cutting boards), utensils,
  and hands after touching raw meat and poultry and before you use them on fresh produce.

Click on the quick links to the left to read more helpfull tips!

For additional information and other food safety tips, please visit:

www.fightbac.org

Deli & Fresh Prepared Foods

Your supermarket maintains rigid quality assurance and sanitation standards to ensure that you always receive fresh, wholesome products. Once you purchase the food though, it's up to you to take care of it. This is important, especially for these perishable foods, because a large number of foodborne illnesses are caused by improper handling of foods in the home.

Deli Meats...

Buy deli meats in quantities that can be used in three to five days. Properly wrap and freeze deli meats that can't be used in that time.

Rely on your senses, touch, sight and smell-to pick up signs of spoilage:

• Off color such as grey or green. An iridescent sheen is normal on ham and roast beef due to the mineral content.
• Off colors.
• A sticky or tacky surface.

...and Deli Cheeses

In general, the harder the cheese, the longer the shelf life in your refrigerator. Thus, hard cheeses such as Romano and Parmesan will have a longer life than will soft cheeses such as Brie and Camembert.

Wrap cheese tightly. The only exception to this is the blue-vein cheeses, which need "breathing room."

Certain types of bacteria are needed for cheeses to ripen, but they also make cheeses quite prone to mold. Don't make the mistake, however, of throwing out hard cheese that has only surface molds. To be safe, cut off the mold and the surrounding 1/2-inch of hard cheese. Discard any moldy soft cheeses.

Frozen and Refrigerated Prepared Foods

These foods usually come with explicit directions on defrosting and cooking.
READ AND FOLLOW THE PACKAGE INSTRUCTIONS!

Thoroughly cook or reheat all refrigerated prepared foods to an internal temperature of 165o F. Never set your oven under 325o F for cooking or baking meat or poultry, since oven temperatures lower than that can increase bacterial growth. Don't purchase packages or containers whose seals, wraps or lids are broken or otherwise damaged.

Hot Foods

Your supermarket will frequently check hot-held foods. Do not purchase lukewarm foods. Consume hot foods within two hours of purchase or refrigerate them.

• Keep food containers sealed until ready to use. Reheat takeout food in a microwave or standard oven to 165o F, or until steaming hot.
• Leftovers should be refrigerated or frozen promptly. Use leftovers within three to four days.
• Cool foods immediately in shallow pans or bowls in the refrigerator to let air circulate.

Deli Salads

Use prepared salads like potato, macaroni and coleslaw within three to five days.

• Follow the two-hour limit in leaving prepared salads out of the refrigerator. In summertime, shorten the two-hour rule. Even though it always looks great to spread all the food out on the picnic table, it's safer to keep cold foods in coolers until right before eating.
• Give each salad its separate, clean spoon for serving, cover tightly when storing, and keep a watchful eye on color and texture. Although some salads get that "distressed" look because of their tendency to form a skin, the skin itself is not bad and all you have to do is mix and blend-with a clean utensil.

Deli Product Storage Chart