Alert
Serve Safe Food for the Big Game
November 9, 2007

If food is not cooked right it can make you sick. That includes under cooked meat, poultry and seafood. And what most people don’t realize is, contaminated fruits and vegetables are a big cause of foodborne illness too.  

You can start to feel the affects anywhere from a few hours to 5 days after eating it. So often it is hard to pinpoint the culprit. That doesn’t mean you have to fast at your Buckeye Football Fever party this weekend.

4 simple steps that you can take to make sure that the food you are serving is safe: 

1) CLEAN

• Hands - Use soap and very warm water, scrubbing for 20 seconds.  Rinse well and dry.
• Counters - Use hot soapy water then use a clean towel or paper towel to dry.
• Fruits and Vegetables - Rinse and scrub under running water.

2) SEPARATE

• Use two separate cutting boards?one for raw meats only and a different one for fresh washed produce only.
• Keep your utensils separate to keep the germs that are naturally occurring on the raw meat from getting onto the fresh washed produce.
• Keep raw animal foods away from ready to eat foods like cooked hamburgers and buns.  Always place cooked meat on a clean plate that has been washed.  If any of the raw meat juices get on the cooked meat it is now contaminated again.

 3) COOK  

• Cook foods to proper temperature.  It is important to check the internal temperature of food you are cooking.  You will use a clean and calibrated food thermometer for this.
• Place the thermometer stem into the food you are testing to see if it reaches the right temperature. The magic temperature to remember is 165 ºF. Using a food thermometer will also give you the juiciest meat because you won’t over cook it which causes meat to be dry and tough.
• Food can only be out in the temperature danger zone (between 41ºF and 140 ºF) for only 2 hours. After that we need to throw it out. Use crock pots, warming plates or chaffing pans to keep hot foods hot (140 ºF or above).

4) CHILL

• Place small bowls of dip, salads and other cold foods on ice in a larger bowl to keep cold foods cold (41ºF or below). 
• Only place small portions of food out and replenish as needed.

Remember, CLEAN, SEPARATE, COOK & CHILL to beat the nasty germs that can make you sick. For more information on food safety go to www.fightbac.org

For more food safety information:

Columbus Public Health Food Safety Program 

OSU Tailgating Food Safety (PDF)