Food Safety and You

• Wash hands for at least 20 seconds and then rinse thoroughly with clean water
• Use soap and hot water (water must be at least 110F to be most effective)
• Wash hands after every change of operation
• Wash hands after going to the bathroom
• Wash hands after eating, smoking, taking out the trash, working with chemicals, etc. (any change of operation no matter how small)

• The Temperature Danger Zone is between 45F and 140F
• Get through the Temperature Danger Zone as quickly as possible
• Room temperature is in the Temperature Danger Zone!
• Hot foods should be maintained at an internal temperature of 140F or greater
• Cold foods should be maintained at an internal temperature of 45F or below (recommend 40F or below)
• The refrigerator should be at 45F or below (recommend 40F or below)
• The freezer should be at 0F or below

• One way to defrost (thaw) a product is from the freezer to the refrigerator
• A second way to defrost (thaw) a product is with cool running water
• A third way to defrost (thaw) a product is from the freezer to direct cooking
• A fourth way to defrost (thaw) a product is in the microwave
• There are only four ways to properly defrost (thaw) a product
• You can not leave a product out at room temperature to defrost (thaw)

• One way to rapidly cool a product is to give it an ice-water bath
• A product must be stirred frequently while getting an ice-water bath
• A second way to rapidly cool a product is to put it into shallow pans that are no more than 4 inches deep with a product depth of no more than 2 inches
• Do not stack shallow pans in the refrigerator

• All food products whether potentially hazardous (dangerous) or not must be reheated to an internal temperature of 165F or greater as quickly as possible.

Better Living for Texans Publication 4/04/96

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This page last modified on: November 23, 1998