-Be sure that your refrigerator and freezer are the right temperature for storing food
-Refrigerate or freeze perishable foods right away
-Throw away anything that looks or smells suspicious. If you think a food might be bad, don't taste it!
-Wash your hands well before preparing food
-Keep your work area, wash rags and utensils clean
-Cook meats thoroughly
An articles from Nemours found of MedlinePlus gives the following tips:
Start at the Supermarket
- Make sure you put refrigerated foods in your cart last. For example, meat, fish, eggs, and milk should hit your cart after cereals, produce, and chips.
- When buying packaged meat, poultry (chicken or turkey), or fish, check the expiration date on the label (the date may be printed on the front, side, or bottom, depending on the food). Don't buy a food if it has expired or if it will expire before you plan to use it.
- Don't buy or use fish or meat that has a strong or strange odor. Follow your nose and eyes — even if the expiration date is OK, pass on any fresh food that has a strange smell or that looks unusual.
- Place meats in plastic bags so that any juices do not leak onto other foods in your cart.
- Separate any raw meat, fish, or poultry from vegetables, fruit, and other foods you'll eat raw.
- Check eggs before buying them. Make sure that none of the eggs are cracked and that they are all clean. Eggs should be grade A or AA.
- Don't slow down your cart for these bad-news foods:
- fruit with broken skin (bacteria can enter through the skin and contaminate the fruit)
- unpasteurized milk, ciders, or juices (they can contain harmful bacteria)
- prestuffed fresh turkeys or chickens
- Raw meat, poultry, or fish should be cooked or frozen within 2 days.
- Thaw frozen meat, poultry, and fish in the refrigerator or microwave, never at room temperature.
- For best results, use a food thermometer when cooking meat and poultry.
- Cook thawed meat, poultry, and fish immediately, don't let it hang around for hours.
- Cook roast and steaks until the juices run clear or until it has an internal temperature of at least 145° Fahrenheit (63° Celsius).
- Cook ground beef or poultry until it's no longer pink or until it has an internal temperature of at least 160° Fahrenheit (71° Celsius).
- Cook chicken and other turkey until it's no longer pink or until it has an internal temperature of at least 165° Fahrenheit (74° Celsius). Check chicken and turkey in several places — breast meat and leg meat — to be sure it's cooked.
- Cook fish until it is opaque and flaky when separated with a fork or until it has an internal temperature of 145° Fahrenheit (63° Celsius)
- Scrub all fruits and veggies with plain water to remove any pesticides, dirt, or bacterial contamination.
- Remove the outer leaves of leafy greens, such as spinach or lettuce.
- Don't let eggs stay at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
- Make sure that you cook eggs thoroughly so yokes or whites are not runny.
- Always wash your hands with warm water and soap before preparing any food.
- Wash your hands after handling raw meat, poultry, fish, or egg products.
- Keep raw meats and their juices away from other foods in the refrigerator and on countertops.
- Never put cooked food on a dish that was holding raw meat, poultry, or fish.
- If you use knives and other utensils on raw meat, poultry, or fish, you need to wash them before using them to cut or handle something else.
- If you touch raw meat, poultry, or fish, wash your hands. Don't wipe them on a dish towel — this can contaminate the towel with bacteria, which may be spread to someone else's hands.
- Use one cutting board for raw meat, poultry, and fish, and another board for everything else.
- When you're done preparing food, it's a good idea to wipe down the countertops with a commercial cleaning product. Don't forget to wash the cutting board in hot, soapy water and then disinfect it with a commercial cleaning product. You can also mix together 1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) chlorine bleach and 1 quart (about 1 liter) of water and store the solution in a spray bottle. Of course, keep the solution and the ingredients out of the reach of your younger brothers and sisters!
- Wash dirty dish towels in hot water
(http://kidshealth.org/teen/nutrition/general/food_safety.html#)
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