Be Food Smart: CFI’s 6 Safe Food Practices

1. Use Safe Water and Food
It is important to remember that all food carries risk and the best way to ensure safe food is to prevent it from becoming contaminated in the first place. While it may be difficult to determine if your food and water is safe to consume, there are steps that you can take to help protect yourself!

• Wash your hands with soap and water before handling food and after using the toilet or changing a diaper. Some studies have shown that using paper towels to dry your hands is an important hand washing step. If soap and water is not available, use hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol.


• Wash/sanitize all food preparation equipment and surfaces – countertops, cutting boards, knives, forks, spoons, and serving items – before and after you prepare food. Use separate cutting boards for different types of food products. Clean your counters and sinks. Take special care when preparing raw produce and clean can tops before opening. Whenever possible, use disposable paper towels and discard sponges – they are a breeding ground for bacteria. Many grocery stores provide disposable wipes to clean grocery cart handles and seats – use them!


• Do not wash or rinse raw meat, poultry or fish – it will only spread bacteria around your kitchen! Carefully remove items from the package and cook them until they reach the proper internal temperature.


• Keep your storage facilities clean. To slow the growth of foodborne pathogens, clean refrigerators, bathrooms, floors, pet feeding areas, doorknobs, stove and light switches, and cabinet hardware regularly. Protect cooking areas and stored food from insects, pests and other animals.

• Separate raw food – especially meat, poultry, seafood and eggs – from other items when shopping and preparing food. When shopping, use the plastic bags provided to separate products in your shopping cart. Don't buy cracked eggs or meat and poultry products that are leaking. At home or on the road, keep raw foods separated from other food that you intend to eat uncooked. Do not let juices from meat, poultry, seafood and eggs drip onto other foods.


• Use separate food preparation equipment for raw and ready-to-eat foods. Use separate cutting boards for raw meat/poultry/seafood products and raw produce. Be sure to use clean utensils, plates and serving dishes for cooked and ready-to-eat food items. When grilling, remember to use clean dishes and utensils to carry your cooked food to the table – the dish you brought to the grill, carrying the raw food, may still have bacteria on it.


• Use a serving dish once and then set it aside for cleaning. Cleaning additional food serving items is easier than suffering through a foodborne illness.


• Never reuse marinades that were used with raw foods without re-heating marinade to a boil.

• Seek medical attention if you are sickened – especially if you have bloody diarrhea, which is a medical emergency. Pay close attention to sickness involving infants/ children, the elderly/seniors, pregnant women and individuals with compromised immune systems.


• Ask to have your stool tested. If your test is positive, ask your medical provider to notify the appropriate public health officials .


• Report your illness. Remember, if you got sick, someone else may have also gotten sick. By reporting your illness, you could help identify or stop an outbreak.


• If you are ill, don't handle food and avoid social settings, like schools or work environments.