As the number of meals consumed away from home increases, so does the risk of foodborne illness. Many individuals experience food poisoning, often mistaking it for the stomach flu. The food industry must make significant efforts in training and implementing practices and procedures to ensure food safety.
Different requirements exist for preparing and serving hot meals at food service centers and for homebound individuals compared to meals prepared and delivered from a central kitchen. Inadequate food temperature controls are common factors contributing to foodborne illness.
If food is not properly handled during purchasing, storage, preparation, and serving, contamination may occur. Regardless of the type of meal prepared or served, a critical element in maintaining food safety is cooking foods to appropriate temperatures and keeping perishable food products out of the temperature danger zone (between 41°F and 140°F).
Foods, utensils, and dinnerware must be packaged and delivered in a manner that prevents contamination and maintains proper food temperatures. State-of-the-art food carriers and transport systems can safely deliver cold and hot food items or meals at proper temperatures within acceptable time frames.
To prevent food contamination, the following safety precautions should be taken by food service personnel in the handling of food.
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Step 1: Cleanliness in Food Handling
According to food safety experts, bacteria can spread throughout the kitchen and contaminate cutting boards, knives, sponges, and countertops. The following measures should be implemented:
- Wash hands in hot soapy water before preparing food and after using the bathroom, changing diapers, or handling pets. For best results, warm water should be used to moisten hands, followed by applying soap and rubbing hands together for 20 seconds before rinsing thoroughly. Hands should be dried with a paper towel or an air hand-drying device.
- Wash cutting boards, knives, utensils, and countertops in hot soapy water after preparing each food item and before moving to the next one.
- Use plastic or other non-porous cutting boards. Cutting boards should be run through the dishwasher or washed in hot soapy water after use.
- Consider using paper towels to clean kitchen surfaces. If cloth towels are used, they should be washed frequently in the hot cycle of the washing machine.
Step 2: Preventing Cross-Contamination
Cross-contamination occurs when bacteria spread from one food product to another, particularly with raw meat, poultry, and seafood. To prevent bacteria transfer to ready-to-eat foods, the following steps should be taken:
- Separate raw meat, poultry, and seafood from other foods in the grocery shopping cart.
- Store raw meat, poultry, and seafood on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator to prevent juices from dripping onto other foods.
- Use different cutting boards for raw meat products and for salads or other ready-to-eat foods.
- Wash cutting boards, knives, and other utensils with hot soapy water after contact with raw meat, poultry, or seafood.
- Never place cooked food on a plate that previously held raw meat, poultry, or seafood.
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Step 3: Cooking to Safe Temperatures
Food experts agree that foods are properly cooked when heated for a sufficient time and at a high enough temperature to kill harmful bacteria causing foodborne illness. The following guidelines should be followed:
- Use a meat thermometer to measure the internal temperature of cooked meat and poultry to ensure thorough cooking.
- Cook roasts and steaks to at least 145°F. Whole poultry should be cooked to 180°F for doneness.
- Cook ground meat, where bacteria can spread during grinding, to at least 160°F. Experts from disease control centers link eating undercooked, pink ground beef with a higher risk of illness. If a thermometer is not available, ground food that is still pink inside should not be consumed.
- Cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm, not runny. Recipes in which eggs remain raw or partially cooked should not be used.
- Cook fish until it is opaque and flakes easily with a fork.
- Ensure no cold spots remain in food (where bacteria can survive) when cooking in a microwave oven. For best results, cover food, stir, and rotate for even cooking. If there is no turntable, rotate the dish by hand once or twice during cooking.
- Bring sauces, soups, and gravy to a boil when reheating. Heat other leftovers thoroughly to 165°F.
Step 4: Safe Food Serving Practices
Perishable food should never be left unrefrigerated for more than 2 hours, as bacteria causing food poisoning grow quickly at warm temperatures. The following practices should be observed:
- Serve food in clean dishes and with clean utensils. Utensils used to prepare food should not be used for serving.
- If food is grilled, serve it on a clean plate, not the one that held raw meat, poultry, or fish.
- Keep cold food on ice or refrigerated until it is time to replenish platters. For hot food, maintain it at 140°F or divide it into smaller serving platters that can be refrigerated until warmed for serving.
Food safety is critical in preventing foodborne illnesses, particularly as more meals are consumed away from home. Proper handling, storage, preparation, and serving practices are essential to minimize contamination risks.
By maintaining cleanliness, preventing cross-contamination, cooking to safe temperatures, and adhering to safe serving practices, food service personnel can significantly reduce the risk of food poisoning.
These precautions, supported by effective training and state-of-the-art transport systems, ensure that food remains safe, maintaining its quality and safety for consumers in agricultural and food service settings.
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