Surprising facts about keeping food safe

People tend to associate food poisoning with restaurants, but most cases occur at home. Here are some other food-safety facts that you may not know:

• Foods that appear fresh aren’t necessarily safe. That’s because the microorganisms that cause food poisoning are different from those that cause spoilage. Assume that all raw meat, fish, and eggs are contaminated, and handle them carefully. When shopping, place meat in separate plastic bags (and store it that way in the refrigerator) to keep its juices away from other foods. And minimize bacterial growth by keeping temperatures down: Choose cold foods last and bag them together; if they’ll be unrefrigerated longer than an hour, pack them in a cooler.
  
  
• Freezing kills only some of the bacteria. If food defrosts at a warm temperature, the surviving organisms resume multiplying rapidly. That’s because freezing breaks down the cell walls, giving bacteria easier access to the nutrients––and it’s the strongest organisms that survive. So thaw foods in the refrigerator, not on the counter. Or defrost them in a microwave or in a watertight plastic bag submerged in cold water; food thawed in those ways should be cooked immediately.
  
  In addition, don’t refreeze foods that have thawed completely, and don’t buy foods that may have been refrozen; signs of refreezing include crystals on the container and clumping of the foods inside.
  
  
• Rinsing raw meat is more likely to contaminate the kitchen than decontaminate the food. However, if rinsing is needed to remove bits of packaging, do it carefully. Try to handle raw food in just one part of the kitchen—say, on a cutting board used only for such food. Mop up spilled juices with paper towels. Then wash with hot soapy water any faucets, sink handles, counters, and utensils that you touched while handling the food. (And wash your hands, too.) Don’t put cooked meat back on the same plate that held it raw, and boil leftover marinade for a full minute if you wish to use it as a sauce for cooked food.
  
  
• Produce can be coated with wax, which can trap potentially dangerous pesticides. That’s especially true for conventionally grown apples, bell peppers, cucumbers, eggplants, peaches, pears, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes. To remove as much of the wax and pesticides as possible, wash those foods carefully, using a highly diluted solution of liquid dish detergent and a soft scrub brush; or you can peel them, though that deprives you of the skin’s nutrients. Other fruits and vegetables should be washed thoroughly under running water; discard the outer leaves of greens before washing.

You can further reduce any risk by choosing organic produce (though it should still be washed to reduce the risk of contamination). In addition to containing less of any pesticides, organic items may have more of certain cancer-fighting antioxidants, according to recent research. Further, the lower pesticide levels let you consume the nutrient-rich skins with greater confidence.


Keep leftovers safe and tasty

To prevent illness, the U.S. Department of Agriculture advises keeping fresh ground meat and poultry in the refrigerator for no longer than one to two days; cooked meats, luncheon meats and egg, tuna, or macaroni salads, no longer than three to five days. And avoid saving any perishable foods that have been at room temperature longer than two hours. Note that frozen leftovers keep well for months and don’t spoil, though they may become freezer burnt or lose taste.