Food safety is always a vital concern for every family. The CDC has identified over 250 foodborne illnesses and estimates that 76 million cases of foodborne illness occur each year in the United States. Most cases are mild, but some instances can turn serious, leading to an estimated 325,000 hospitalization and 5,000 deaths attributed to foodborne illness each year. These illnesses cost the US between $5 and $6 million dollars a year in medical and productivity costs. Adopting four basic safety strategies during food preparation can help avoid sickness:
- Clean – Hands, cooking tools, cutting boards and plates should always be washed thoroughly to kill any existing bacteria and prevent cross-contamination.
- Separate – keep raw meats and dairy products away from other foods to avoid cross-contamination.
- Cook – Cook food to USDA recommended safe temperatures to kill bacteria.
- Chill – store foods at safe refrigeration temperatures before and after preparation.
One simple, convenient and inexpensive safeguard that every family can use is thermometers. The range of essential kitchen instruments includes refrigerator/freezer thermometers for storage, oven thermometers to achieve the right cooking temperature and, most important of all, meat and instant-read thermometers to verify the internal temperature of foods before serving.
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