Safe Food Practices

Following these safety tips when preparing and handling food will help protect both you and your family from foodborne illnesses.

Chill

• Keep cold food cold to slow down most bacterial growth. Set your refrigerator to 4ºC (40ºF) and your freezer to -18ºC (0ºF).
• Never defrost food at room temperature. Thaw food in the refrigerator, in the microwave, or in cold water (replaced every 30 minutes).
• Always marinate meat, poultry and seafood in the refrigerator!
• Bacteria grow quickly at room temperature. When shopping, buy perishable foods last, and refrigerate or freeze them as soon as you get home.
• Serve food right away, and refrigerate or freeze perishable food, prepared food and leftovers within two hours. Avoid letting foods sit at temperatures between 4ºC (40ºF) and 60ºC (140ºF).

Separate

• Separate raw meat, poultry, and seafood from other foods in your grocery cart, and while storing, preparing and serving foods.
• Store these raw foods in sealed containers or plastic bags on bottom shelves in your refrigerator to keep their juices from dripping onto other foods.
• Use one cutting board for produce, and a separate one for raw meat, poultry and seafood.

Clean

• Always wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before handling food. Also wash your hands after using the bathroom, changing diapers, handling pets, or handling raw meat, poultry, seafood or eggs.
• Sanitize countertops, cutting boards and utensils before and after preparing food. Use a kitchen sanitizer (following the directions on the container) or a bleach solution (5 ml household bleach to 750 ml of water), and rinse with water.
• Use paper towels to wipe kitchen surfaces, or change dishcloths daily to avoid the risk of cross-contamination and the spread of bacteria.
• Avoid using sponges, as they are harder to keep bacteria-free.

Cook

• Cook food completely, using a clean thermometer to measure the temperature. See Health Canada's safe internal cooking temperature chart to learn the proper way of taking measurements and to make sure that the food has been cooked to a safe internal temperature.
• Do not use leftover marinade from raw food on cooked food. Before marinating meat, set some marinade aside in the fridge so you can use it later to baste or dip meat.
• Keep hot foods at or above 60ºC (140°F). Bacteria can grow quickly in the danger zone between 4°C to 60°C (40°F to 140°F).

Where can I learn more?

• Safe Internal Cooking Temperatures
  Health Canada’s advice on how to safely measure the internal temperature of foods.
• Food and Nutrition
  Health Canada's website includes information about food-related illnesses, nutrition, and food safety, including In Your Kitchen: Safety Tips.
•  Food Safety website
  The Government of Canada’s new portal for everything about food safety.
•  Fight BAC! and Be Food Safe
  The Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education has two great websites filled with tips, fact sheets, games and learning activities on how to avoid foodborne illness.
•  Canadian Food Inspection Agency
  The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has a lot of information about food safety on its website, including  food safety tips, food recalls and allergy alerts.