Since July is National Food Safety Month, it only makes sense to discuss topics such as proper food handling and, well, food safety.
In the household, food safety is your concern and responsibility, as well as the concern and responsibility of everyone else in the home. Many food safety rules are fairly basic, but oftentimes overlooked in the hustle and bustle of the modern day kitchen. Here are some rules to live by when taking care of food in the kitchen.

1. Wash hand with soap and warm water, or use a sanitizing towel or liquid cleanser before handling food.
2. Put all of your perishable foods into the refrigerator within 30 minutes of shopping.
3. When grocery shopping, grab the frozen foods and vegetables right before you check out.
4. Put cooked meats in a clean container instead of the container it arrived in as raw meat.
5. After cutting raw poultry, fish or meat, clean the cutting board before using it for anything else.
6. Keep the refrigerator between 32 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Keep the freezer below 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
8. Cook ground meat until it’s ‘well done.’
9. Throw items out when they pass the expiration or sell-by date.
10. Before eating raw fruits and vegetables, wash or scrub them under running water.

These tips and more can be found in our “Health Beat” healthy promotion newsletters, available on our site, http://www.ncescatalog.com or in our catalog.