One of the most important places to prevent food poisoning and its awful perils is your kitchen.
So, your friends at Stop Foodborne Illness want to help you get your kitchen in tip top shape for food safety!
And you can do just that by stocking it with our top five kitchen tools. Check out our list below and be sure to snag these gadgets soon to arm your kitchen against harmful pathogens that can cause foodborne illness.
If you eat meat-based meals in your home, a meat thermometer is a must.
Using a meat thermometer to make sure turkey, poultry, ham, roasts, hamburgers, and meat loaves are cooked to a safe temperature is the only way to: 1) Take the guesswork out of cooking meat—no more wondering if it’s done and safe to eat; and 2) Prevent foodborne illness and its potentially harmful health consequences.
Remember, contaminated food isn’t effectively detected by the smell, color, or taste of your food. A meat thermometer is a critical tool that’ll help make certain that dangerous bacteria like Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli O157:H7 have been destroyed.
*A nice add-on is a Refrigerator/Freezer thermometer – for making sure they stay as cold as as they need to keep food safe.
You can boost up your efforts for prevention of cross-contamination by using cutting boards in assorted colors that are specifically used for different foods (like those pictured up top).
One would ONLY be used for vegetables/fruits, one only for raw meats/poultry, one only for cooked meats, and so on. This is such a useful tool—especially if you cook at home a lot.
Do you have one of these yet? If not, this is such an easy-peasy item to get TODAY! Having a timer in your kitchen helps with two important things:
It will help remind you to check to see if your food is done, and it can also remind you when it’s time to put food away.
Speaking of that, keep in mind the “2-hour rule” because harmful bacteria can multiply significantly in the “danger zone” (between 40° and 140° F) so perishable foods should never be left at room temperature longer than two hours.
When you’re on the go and taking perishable food with you, be sure to put that food into an insulated food carrier to help keep it hot or cold.
Now, keep this important point in mind: These carriers will only keep food at the temperature you put it in for up to one hour if the carrier is kept closed.
So, a carrier like this is ideal for taking lunch food into work, for instance, with the intent that you’ll transfer that food into a refrigerator once you arrive at work.
Especially for people who love to throw a good party, keeping hot food hot that’s been put out for guests is always a challenge.
To overcome that challenge, a food warmer/chafing dish is in order, and it can truly be one of your best weapons against foodborne illness.
As a reminder, the safe temperature zone for hot food is 140°F or higher.
MAKE GIFT-GIVING EASY!
With the holidays right around the corner, you can make gift-giving easy by helping people you care about prevent foodborne illness with one of our top five food safety kitchen tools. For any of them, a quick Google search will bring up many options for you.
Thanks in advance for helping us spread the food safety word!
Stop Foodborne Illness is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent the law allows.
