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A Quick Consumer Guide to Safe Food HandlingUSDA Food Safety and Inspection Service Reviewed by Suzanne Driessen, Extension Educator Food science, February 4, 2009 
This publication tells you what to do at each step in food handling—from shopping through storing leftovers—to avoid food poisoning. Never had poisoning? Actually, it's called foodborne illness. Perhaps you have, but thought you were sick with the flu. Some seven million Americans will suffer from foodborne illness this year. Why? Because at the right temperature, bacteria you can't see, smell or taste can multiply to the millions in a few short hours. In large numbers, they cause illness. It doesn't have to happen, though. Some 85 percent of cases could be avoided if people just handled food properly. So here's what to do . . . Buy cold food last and get it home fast.
Refrigerate food to keep it safe.Check the temperature of your refrigerator with an appliance thermometer you can buy at a variety or hardware store. To keep bacteria in check, the refrigerator should run at 40° F; the freezer unit at 0° F. Generally, keep your refrigerator as cold as possible without freezing your milk or lettuce.
Keep food preparation areas and tools clean.
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Wash hands in hot soapy water before preparing food and after using the bathroom, changing diapers and handling pets.
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Bacteria can live in kitchen towels, sponges and cloths. Wash and replace them often.
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Keep raw meat, poultry and fish and their juices away from other food. For instance, wash your hands, cutting board and knife in hot soapy water after cutting up the chicken and before dicing salad ingredients.
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Use plastic cutting boards rather than wooden ones where bacteria can hide in grooves. Replace plastic cutting boards when they become badly grooved.
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| ü | Thaw food in the microwave or refrigerator, NOT on the kitchen counter. The danger? Bacteria can grow in the outer layers of the food before the inside thaws. Marinate in the refrigerator too. |
It takes thorough cooking to kill harmful bacteria. You're taking chances when you eat meat, poultry, fish or eggs that are raw or only partly cooked. Some ground beef may turn prematurely brown before a safe internal temperature of 160°F has been reached. Color of meat is no longer considered a reliable indicator of ground beef safety.
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Cook red meat, including hamburger, to 160° F. Cook all poultry to 165° F. Cook fresh beef, veal, lamb, steaks, roasts and chops to 145° F. Use a thermometer to check that it's cooked all the way through. Use an "instant-read" thermometer to check patty temperatures. They are designed for use toward the end of the cooking time and register a temperature in about 15 seconds. The meat thermometer should penetrate the thickest part of the hamburger.
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Salmonella, a bacteria that causes food poisoning, can grow inside fresh, unbroken eggs. So cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm, not runny. Scramble eggs to a firm texture. Don't use recipes in which eggs remain raw or only partially cooked.
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| ü | When you cook ahead, divide large portions of food into small, shallow containers for refrigeration. This ensures safe, rapid cooling. |
A great timesaver, the microwave has one food safety disadvantage. It sometimes leaves cold spots in food. Bacteria can survive in these spots. So . . .
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Cover food with a lid or plastic wrap so steam can aid thorough cooking. Vent wrap and make sure it doesn't touch the food.
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Stir and rotate your food for even cooking. No turntable? Rotate the dish by hand once or twice during cooking.
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Observe the standing time called for in a recipe or package directions. During the standing time, food finishes cooking.
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| ü | Use the oven temperature probe or a meat thermometer to check that food is done. Insert it at several spots. |
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Use clean dishes and utensils to serve food, not those used in preparation. Serve grilled food on a clean plate too, not one that held raw meat, poultry or fish.
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Never leave perishable food out of the refrigerator over 2 hours! Bacteria that can cause food poisoning grow quickly at warm temperatures.
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Pack lunches in insulated carriers with a cold pack. Caution children never to leave lunches in direct sun or on a warm radiator.
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Carry picnic food in a cooler with a cold pack. When possible, put the cooler in the shade. Keep the lid on as much as you can.
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| ü | Party time? Keep cold party food on ice or serve it throughout the gathering from platters from the refrigerator. Likewise, divide hot party food into smaller serving platters. Keep platters refrigerated until time to warm them up for serving. |
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Divide large amounts of leftovers into small, shallow containers for quick cooling in the refrigerator. Don't pack the refrigerator—cool air must circulate to keep food safe.
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| ü | With poultry or other stuffed meats remove stuffing and refrigerate it in separate containers. |
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Bring sauces, soups and gravy to a boil. Heat other leftovers thoroughly to 165° F.
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| ü | Microwave leftovers using a lid or vented plastic wrap for thorough heating. |
Safe refrigerator and freezer storage time-limits are given for many common foods in the "Cold Storage" table. But what about something you totally forgot about and may have kept too long?
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Danger—never taste food that looks or smells strange to see if you can still use it. Just discard it.
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| ü | Is it moldy? The mold you see is only the tip of the iceberg. The poisons molds can form are found under the surface of the food. So, while you can sometimes save hard cheese and salamis and firm fruits and vegetables by cutting the mold out—remove a large area around it—most moldy food should be discarded. |
Without power, a full upright or chest freezer will keep everything frozen for about 2 days. A half-full freezer will keep food frozen 1 day.
If power will be coming back on fairly soon, you can make the food last longer by keeping the door shut as much as possible.
If power will be off for an extended period, take food to friends' freezers, locate a commercial freezer or use dry ice.
Without power, the refrigerator section will keep food cool 4-6 hours depending on the kitchen temperature.
A full, well-functioning freezer unit should keep food frozen for 2 days. A half-full freezer unit should keep things frozen about 1 day.
Block ice can keep food on the refrigerator shelves cooler. Dry ice can be added to the freezer unit. You can't touch dry ice and you shouldn't breathe the fumes, so follow handling directions carefully.
Food still containing ice crystals or that feels refrigerator-cold can be refrozen.
Discard any thawed food that has risen to room temperature and remained there 2 hours or more. Immediately discard anything with a strange color or odor.
If you or a family member develop nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever or cramps, you could have food poisoning. Unfortunately, it's not always easy to tell since, depending on the illness, symptoms can appear anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 weeks later. Most often, though, people get sick within 4 to 48 hours after eating bad food.
In more serious cases, food poisoning victims may have nervous system problems like paralysis, double vision or trouble swallowing or breathing.
If symptoms are severe or the victim is very young, old, pregnant or already ill, call a doctor or go to the hospital right away.
You or your physician should report serious cases of foodborne illness to the local health department.
Report any food poisoning incidents if the food involved came from a restaurant or commercial outlet.
Give a detailed but short account of the incident. If the food is a commercial product, have it in hand so you can describe it.
If you're asked to keep the food refrigerated so officials can examine it later, follow directions carefully.
For more information on food handling, call USDA's Meat and Poultry Hotline, 1-888-674-6854 or email your questions to: mphotline.fsis@usda.gov.
These SHORT but safe time limits will help keep refrigerated food from spoiling or becoming dangerous to eat. These time limits will keep frozen food at top quality.
| Product | Refrigerator (40°F) |
Freezer (0°F) |
| Eggs | ||
| Fresh, in shell | 3 weeks | Don't freeze |
| Raw yolks, whites | 2-4 days | 1 year |
| Hardcooked | 1 week | Don't freeze well |
| Liquid pasteurized eggs or egg substitute — opened Liquid pasteurized eggs or egg substitute — unopened |
3 days 10 days |
Don't freeze 1 year |
| Mayonnaise | ||
| Commercial, refrigerate after opening | 2 months | Don't freeze |
| TV Dinners, Frozen Casseroles | ||
| Keep frozen until ready to serve | 3-4 months | |
| Deli & Vacuum-Packed Products | ||
| Store-made or homemade egg, chicken, tuna, ham, macaroni salads | 3-5 days | These products don't freeze well |
| Pre-stuffed pork & lamb chops, chicken breasts stuffed with dressing | 1 day | |
| Store-cooked convenience meals | 1-2 days | |
| Commercial brand vacuum-packed dinners with USDA seal | 2 weeks, unopened | |
| Soups and Stews | ||
| Vegetable or meat-added | 3-4 days | 2-3 months |
| Hamburger, Ground & Stew Meats | ||
| Hamburger and stew meats | 1-2 days | 3-4 months |
| Ground turkey, veal, pork, lamb and mixtures of them | 1-2 days | 3-4 months |
| Hotdogs and Lunch Meats | ||
| Hotdogs — opened package Hotdogs — unopened package |
1 week 2 weeks | In freezer wrap, 1-2 months |
| Lunch meats — opened Lunch meats — unopened |
3-5 days 2 weeks |
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| Bacon and Sausage | ||
| Bacon | 7 days | 1 month |
| Sausage, raw from pork, beef, turkey | 1-2 days | 1-2 months |
| Smoked breakfast links, patties | 7 days | 1-2 months |
| Hard sausage — pepperoni, jerky sticks | 2-3 weeks | 1-2 months |
| Ham, Corned Beef | ||
| Corned beef — in pouch with pickling juices | 5-7 days | Drained, wrapped 1 month |
| Ham, canned — label says keep refrigerated | 6-9 months | Don't freeze |
| Ham, fully cooked — whole | 7 days | 1-2 months |
| Ham, fully cooked — half | 3-5 days | 1-2 months |
| Ham, fully cooked — slices | 3-4 days | 1-2 months |
| Fresh Meat | ||
| Steaks, beef | 3-5 days | 6-12 months |
| Chops, pork | 3-5 days | 4-6 months |
| Chops, lamb | 3-5 days | 4-6 months |
| Roasts, beef | 3-5 days | 4-12 months |
| Roasts, lamb | 3-5 days | 4-12 months |
| Roasts, pork and veal | 3-5 days | 4-6 months |
| Variety meats — tongue, brain, kidneys, liver, heart, chitterlings | 1-2 days | 3-4 months |
| Meat Leftovers | ||
| Cooked meat and meat dishes | 3-4 days | 2-3 months |
| Gravy and meat broth | 1-2 days | 2-3 months |
| Fresh Poultry | ||
| Chicken or turkey, whole | 1-2 days | 1 year |
| Chicken or turkey pieces | 1-2 days | 9 months |
| Giblets | 1-2 days | 3-4 months |
| Cooked Poultry, Leftover | ||
| Fried chicken | 3-4 days | 4 months |
| Cooked poultry dishes | 3-4 days | 4-6 months |
| Pieces, plain | 3-4 days | 4 months |
| Pieces covered with broth, gravy | 1-2 days | 6 months |
| Chicken nuggets, patties | 2 days | 1-3 months |
| Product | Degrees Farenheit |
| Eggs & Egg Dishes | |
| Eggs | 160 |
| Egg dishes | |
| Ground Meat & Meat Mixtures | |
| Turkey, chicken | 165 |
| Veal, beef, lamb, pork | 160 |
| * Hamburger or ground beef should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160° F. Current research has shown that some ground beef may turn prematurely brown before a safe internal temperature of 160°F has been reached. Persons serving high risk individuals (ill, immuno-compromised, young children, and older adults) are especially advised to use a thermometer to measure internal temperature to prevent E-coli 0157:H7 contamination. | |
| Fresh Beef | |
| Steaks, roasts, chops Medium Rare |
145 |
| Medium | 160 |
| Well done | 170 |
| Fresh Pork | |
| Medium | 160 |
| Well done | 170 |
| Poultry | |
| Chicken turkey, whole | 165 |
| Poultry parts | 165 |
| Stuffing (cooked alone or in a bird) | 165 |
| Duck and goose | 165 |
| Ham | |
| Fresh (raw) | 160 |
| Pre-cooked (to reheat) | 140 |
William Schafer is a food technologist with the University of Minnesota Extension Service.
How this booklet was developed. USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service asked food scientist to analyze consumer handling of food in the home using a HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) approach. This booklet, the result of that effort, guides you past those critical points in everyday food handling where experts say making the "wrong" move could lead to foodborne illness. Home and Garden Bulletin No. 248, September 1990, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service. Reviewed by Suzanne Driessen, Extension Educator Food science, February 4, 2009. Reference: Kitchen Companion. Your Safe Food Handbook. USDA, February 2008.
In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, this material is available in alternative formats upon request. Please contact your University of Minnesota Extension office or the Extension Store at (800) 876-8636.
University of Minnesota Extension is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal access to its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, or sexual orientation.
