Food Safety Tips

Adapted from Serving Up Safe Buffets | FDA

Size Matters

If you’re planning a buffet at home and are not sure how quickly the food will be eaten, keep buffet serving sizes small.

• Prepare a number of small platters and dishes ahead of time, and replace the serving dishes with the fresh ones throughout the party.
• Store cold back-up dishes in the refrigerator and keep hot dishes in the oven set at 200 °F - 250 °F, prior to serving. This way, your late arriving guests can safely enjoy the same tasty food as the early arrivals.

Take Temperatures

Hot foods should be kept at an internal temperature of 140 °F or warmer.

• Use a food thermometer to check. Serve or keep food hot in chafing dishes, slow cookers, and warming trays.
• Be aware that some warmers only hold food at 110 °F to 120 °F, so read the product label to make sure your warmer can keep foods at 140 °F or warmer. This is the temperature that’s required to keep bacteria at bay!
• Eggs and egg dishes, such as quiches or soufflés, may be refrigerated for serving later but should be thoroughly reheated to 165 °F before serving.

Chill Out

Cold foods should be kept at 40 °F or colder.

• Keep cold foods refrigerated until serving time.
• If food is going to stay out on the buffet table longer than 2 hours, place plates of cold food on ice to keep them cold.

Keep It Fresh

Don’t add new food to an already filled serving dish.

• Instead, replace nearly empty serving dishes with freshly filled ones.
• Be aware that during the party, bacteria from people’s hands can spoil the food. Plus, bacteria can grow in numbers at room temperature.

Watch the Clock

Remember the 2-Hour Rule: Discard any perishables left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours, unless you’re keeping it hot or cold.

• If the buffet is held in a place where the temperature is above 90 °F, the safe holding time is reduced to 1 hour.
• Watch the clock with leftovers, too! Whether you’re sending “doggie bags” home with guests or are saving them for yourself, leftovers should be refrigerated as soon as guests arrive home and/or within 2 hours!

Adapt “Old Family Recipes” Safely

Some of your favorite traditional recipes may call for raw or lightly cooked eggs. These may include homemade Caesar salad dressing, ice cream, custards, rice pudding, chocolate mousse, eggnog, and some sauces. 

However, some raw eggs can contain harmful bacteria. These can be most dangerous when eaten (or drank) by those at higher risk for foodborne illness – such as people who pregnant, young children, older adults, and those who may have a weakened immune system due to organ transplants or diseases like diabetes, cancer, or HIV.

Help keep your party guests safe by remaking your favorite recipes with eggs (or substituting prepared products for some items). Here’s how:

• Add the eggs to the amount of liquid called for in the recipe, then heat the mixture until it reaches 160 °F on a food thermometer.

  OR

• Use store-bought products of the foods listed above, which are often already cooked or pasteurized. (Check the label to be sure.)

  OR

• Purchase pasteurized eggs. These eggs can be found in some supermarkets and are labeled “pasteurized.” Here are several types consumers can buy:
  • Fresh, pasteurized eggs in the shell (found in the refrigerator section).
  • Liquid, pasteurized egg products (found in the refrigerator section).
  • Frozen, pasteurized egg products (found in the frozen food section).
  • Powdered egg whites (found in the baking section).

Safe Food Handling: Four Simple Steps

1. CLEAN

Wash hands and surfaces often.

• Wash your hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds before and after handling food and after using the bathroom, changing diapers, and handling pets.
• Wash your cutting boards, dishes, utensils, and counter tops with hot soapy water after preparing each food item.
• Consider using paper towels to clean up kitchen surfaces. If you use cloth towels, launder them often in the hot cycle.
• Rinse fresh fruits and vegetables under running tap water, including those with skins and rinds that are not eaten. Scrub firm produce with a clean produce brush.
• With canned goods, remember to clean lids before opening.

2. SEPARATE

Separate raw meats from other foods.

• Separate raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs from other foods in your grocery shopping cart, grocery bags, and refrigerator.
• Use one cutting board for fresh produce and a separate one for raw meat, poultry, and seafood.
• Never place cooked food on a plate that previously held raw meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs unless the plate has been washed in hot, soapy water.
• Don’t reuse marinades used on raw foods unless you bring them to a boil first.

3. COOK

Cook to the right temperature.

• Color and texture are unreliable indicators of safety. Using a food thermometer is the only way to ensure the safety of meat, poultry, seafood, and egg products for all cooking methods. These foods must be cooked to a safe minimum internal temperature to destroy any harmful bacteria.
• Cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm. Only use recipes in which eggs are cooked or heated thoroughly.
• When cooking in a microwave oven, cover food, stir, and rotate for even cooking. If there is no turntable, rotate the dish by hand once or twice during cooking. Always allow standing time, which completes the cooking, before checking the internal temperature with a food thermometer.
• Bring sauces, soups and gravy to a boil when reheating.

4. CHILL

Refrigerate foods promptly.

• Use an appliance thermometer to be sure the temperature is consistently 40° F or below and the freezer temperature is 0° F or below.
• Refrigerate or freeze meat, poultry, eggs, seafood, and other perishables within 2 hours of cooking or purchasing. Refrigerate within 1 hour if the temperature outside is above 90° F.
• Never thaw food at room temperature, such as on the counter top. There are three safe ways to defrost food: in the refrigerator, in cold water, and in the microwave. Food thawed in cold water or in the microwave should be cooked immediately.
• Always marinate food in the refrigerator.
• Divide large amounts of leftovers into shallow containers for quicker cooling in the refrigerator.

More Tips

(Adapted from the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services).

1. Keep hot foods hot.

If a food is cooked and put out to serve, food should be kept hot if it is not going to be eaten right away. If food is cooled in the refrigerator, it should be cooled quickly in a shallow container. Perishable food should not be kept at temperatures between 40°F and 140°F for more than 2 hours. Bacteria can grow well at these temperatures and may grow to levels that could cause illness.

2. Keep cold foods cold.

Cold salads, lunch meats, dairy products and other foods that require refrigeration should be kept cold (below 40°F). Bacteria may be able to grow to dangerous levels at warmer temperatures.

3. Wash hands properly.

Our hands naturally carry bacteria on them. If we transfer those bacteria to food, the food is a good place for those bacteria to grow. Foods contain a certain amount of bacteria on them as well, especially raw foods. It is important not to let the bacteria from raw foods stay on your hands where you may transfer them to your mouth or other foods. Be sure to wash your hands using the technique below:

• Wet your hands with warm water. Add soap and rub your hands to a soapy lather.
• Wash the front and back of your hands, between your fingers and under your nails. (Count to 20, or sing "Happy Birthday" twice. This will take about 20 seconds).
• Rinse well.
• Dry hands with a clean paper towel.
• Turn off faucet with a new clean paper towel.

4. Don't cross contaminate.

Don't allow juices associated with raw meat and poultry to contaminate other areas of your kitchen where they can be transferred to other foods and to your hands. Use separate cutting boards for meats and vegetables and never place cooked food on a plate that was used to hold raw meat, poultry, eggs, or seafood.

5. Thaw foods safely.

Frozen raw meat and poultry should not be thawed by leaving them on the counter at room temperature. The proper way to thaw such products is to thaw them in the refrigerator, in a microwave oven, or sitting in cold water.

6. Wash fresh fruits and vegetables thoroughly.

Because fresh fruits and vegetable are grown outside, they may come in contact with a wide range of bacteria. Most of these bacteria are harmless, but it is important to realize that fresh fruits and vegetables should be washed thoroughly under running water before eating them.

7. Keep eggs refrigerated and don't eat raw eggs.

Eggs may contain the bacteria Salmonella. It is important not to leave eggs at room temperature or the Salmonella can multiply and grow. Eggs should also be cooked thoroughly before eating. This means no eating runny yolks or cookie or cake batters made with raw eggs.

8. Cook ground beef thoroughly.

E. coli, Salmonella and other harmful bacteria may be in raw ground meat. Hamburgers and other ground meat products should be cooked completely to kill bacteria. Ground beef must reach an internal temperature of 160°F to kill the bacteria. The interior of the meat may turn brown before this temperature is reached, making it look like the hamburger is done, but you cannot assure it's safety until the temperature reaches 160°F.

9. When in doubt, throw it out.

Don't taste food you think may be spoiled. If you are uncertain whether food is still safe to eat, do not eat it. Even reheating foods cannot destroy the toxins of some bacteria if the food has been handled incorrectly. Don't eat canned food if the can is bulging or looks like it has had a leak.