Spoiler Alert!

If your family is anything like mine, the kitchen counter is the hub of your home. It’s where pancakes get flipped, dinners get prepped, and lunches get packed. But it is also where homework gets done, bills get paid, and laundry gets folded. That makes for a lot of germs gathering in the same place, and lots of hands touching them. While we may not always be able to control the germs coming into our house, we can take steps to control the germs inside our house and combat the nagging voice saying, “Did I leave that out too long? How old is this chicken? Wait, is this the cutting board I used for steak?”

Before you roll your eyes and think, “Great, another lecture about washing my hands,” hang tight. While washing your hands is a major part in keeping you and your family safe while preparing and eating meals, this is more than that. We’re going to break down food safety with Karen Noonan, Supervising Public Health Sanitarian at CCHD. Karen oversees the food service program and has been inspecting our local food services for more than a decade. So let’s sit back and learn how to avoid upset stomachs – because nothing tastes better than peace of mind.

Karen, why do we need to think about food safety when we dine out and when we eat in?

Because foodborneillness can happen anywhere—at a restaurant, a picnic, or right at home in your own kitchen. Most of us think of it as something that happens “out there,” but the truth is a lot of foodborne illness starts in home kitchens. Food safety is important everywhere food is handled. Our staff goes out to monitor the way food is prepared when you are dining out, but you are in charge of what happens in your own kitchen.

I’m not just someone who checks restaurants—I cook for my own family every day. I know what it’s like to be busy, tired, and just trying to get dinner on the table. And I’ve also experienced food poisoning before, and let me tell you, once you’ve been through it, you don’t forget it.

Food safety isn’t about being perfect—it’s about building good habits. The more you practice these steps, the more natural they’ll feel. At the end of the day, food safety is really about taking care of the people you love.

What do we need to do to keep food safe while we are preparing it?

Think of three main steps:

1. Wash your hands, counters, and utensils often.
2. Keep raw meat, poultry, and seafood away from fruits, veggies, and ready-to-eat foods.
3. Use a thermometer to make sure food gets to the right temperature.

What are the most common mistakes you see or hear about? And how do we fix them?

Mistake: Leaving food out at room temperature too long.

Fix: The key is temperature and timing. Perishable foods need to get into the refrigerator within two hours—or within one hour if it’s hot outside. Keep your fridge at 40°F or colder and your freezer at 0°F. And don’t overcrowd your fridge—air needs to circulate to keep food cold. For leftovers, cool them quickly—don’t let food sit out more than two hours. Store leftovers in shallow containers so they chill evenly, label them with the date, and try to use them within three to four days.

Mistake: Not washing hands as often as needed while cooking.

Fix: It’s not just about preventing your germs from touching the food you are cooking. It also helps prevent cross contamination – or spreading germs from one food to another. It is important to wash your hands (each time) after you handle meat, chicken or other poultry, seafood, flour, or eggs. And of course, if you cough, sneeze, blow your nose, go to the bathroom, touch your pets, and anything else you wouldn’t want in your mouth….

Mistake: Letting meat thaw on the counter.

Fix: A lot of people set meat on the counter to thaw, but that’s actually one of the riskiest things you can do. The outside of the food warms up and bacteria can grow quickly, while the inside is still frozen. Instead, thaw in the refrigerator, in cool water, or in the microwave.

Mistake: Undercooking food and guessing if something is “done”.

Fix: Color and texture can be misleading, especially with ground beef and chicken. The only reliable way to know if food is done is to use a food thermometer. Chicken should reach 165°F, ground beef 160°F, fish 145°F, and reheat leftovers to 165°F. It’s a quick step that can save you from a lot of trouble.

Top 3 things to remember.

1. Wash your hands.
2. Keep cold food cold and hot food hot.
3. Use a food thermometer while cooking.