Foodborne Illness Prevention

 
 
 
 
 
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What you need to know

​​​​​​​​Who is at risk of a foodborne illness?

Everyone is at risk of getting a foodborne illness. However, some people are at a greater risk of becoming seriously ill or even dying from a foodborne illness:

  1. Infants
  2. Young children
  3. Pregnant women and their unborn babies
  4. Older adults
  5. People with chronic disease and/or weakened immune systems

What can you do to protect yourself from foodborne illness?

A few simple steps can reduce the risk of foodborne diseases:

Clean

  1. Wash your hands for at least 20 second with soap and water.
  2. Wash surfaces and utensils after each use.
  3. Wash fruits and vegetables, but not meat, poultry or eggs.

Separate

  1. Avoid cross-contaminating foods.
  2. Use separate cutting boards and plates for produce, meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs.

Cook

  1. Cook meat, poultry and eggs thoroughly.
  2. Use a thermometer to measure the internal temperature of meat. A meat thermometer is a good way to be sure that you cooked meat enough to kill bacteria. Visit FoodSafety.gov for safe and proper cooking temperatures.

Chill

  1. Refrigerate leftovers immediately. Bacteria can grow quickly at room temperature, so refrigerate leftover foods if no one will eat them within 2 hours.
  2. For large volumes of food, split them into several shallow containers. When you refrigerate them, they will cool more quickly.