Tips on Food Safety (Part 2)

Clean Up

Even though the kitchen might look clean, your hands, the countertops, and the utensils you use could still contain lots of bacteria that you can't even see. To prevent the spread of bacteria while you're preparing food, check out the following:

• Always wash your hands with hot 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.