Cleaning Kitchen, Countertops and Containers Food Safety Guidelines
Before cleaning foods, always start with washing your hands. Most people don’t wash their hands for the entire 20 seconds that is needed to kill germs. Also make sure to wash your wrists. Often times during meal prep, we may accidentally wipe our hair back or pick up the phone. You may need to wash hands several times during meal prep.
Before preparing food, make sure countertops, cutting boards, and utensils are clean. Otherwise, these surfaces can contaminate the foods with bacteria.
Follow these food safety steps when cleaning foods:
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Wash hands for 20 seconds with soap and running water
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Wash surfaces and utensils after you use them.
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Wash fruits and vegetables even if you are going to peel them to prevent any bacteria on the outside to go to the inside
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Be especially careful of cantaloupe and use a scrub brush because of its textured surface. Dirt and bacteria can be sitting on the surface; once you slice a knife through the melon, the bacteria will just go along for the ride. Washing will not kill E.coli or salmonella though (only high heat can kill bacteria).
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It is not recommended that you wash meat or poultry because of the increased chance to contaminate the kitchen surfaces with bacteria from the meat
Healthy Eating
Healthy Child
Written by Maggie LaBarbera
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Written on Mar 15, 2012
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Last updated on Oct 25, 2013
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