What are the best ways to prevent foodborne illnesses in your kitchen?

According to CDC the Top 5 Risk Factors Contributing to Foodborne Illness - Poor Personal Hygiene. - Improper Holding Temperatures. - Improper Cooking Temperatures. - Food from Unsafe Sources. - Contaminated Equipment/Cross Contamination.

Preventing foodborne illnesses can be done through Personal hygiene by washing hands thoroughly with soap and warm water before handling food, after using the restroom, touching raw meat or poultry, or handling garbage. Wearing the right PPE. Store food at the appropriate temperature to prevent the growth of bacteria. Keep perishable foods refrigerated at or below 40°F (4°C).Maintain proper storage practices to prevent cross-contamination between raw and cooked foods. Store raw meat, poultry, and seafood separately from ready-to-eat foods. Having the right food preparation process. Proper cooking and reheating. Proper food handling. Establish monitoring systems, such as temperature logs. Keep detailed records of food safety practices.

Kitchen personnel can take the following steps to prevent food poisoning. 1. Wash fruits and vegetables properly before preparing them. 2. Wash hands constantly during cooking. 3. Store food in the refrigerator not more than two hours after cooking. 4. Have a separate cutting boards for meat and vegetables. 5. Ensure that street food is from a reputable place. 6. Have frequent Food Handlers Clinics at your establishments. 7. Conduct daily/weekly Health & Safety audits in your kitchens

Another way to ensure you prevent food borne illnesses is to ensure you comply with storage instructions as recommended. Many consumers ignore the instructions and then compromise the safety of the food product by making it susceptible to microorganisms.

Food handlers shall practise complete 7 steps hand wash that consumes 20 seconds of time to ensure hands are properly cleaned. Remember that a washed wet hand spreads more germs than a unwashed dry hand. Germs love moisture tho.

The following four steps (clean, separate, cook, and chill – or “CSCC”) have been recommended by The Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), The World Health Organization (WHO), The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) as the best means to prevent Food Poisoning.

When preparing a meal, have separate areas for raw and cooked ingredients. This includes knives, utensils and people who are performing the task. When done, clean and sanitize the areas separately. Cross contamination is a big case of illness.

One more point is important, always keep a seperate portion for the marinade sauces, put them in refrigerator and dont resuse marinade that contains raw meat . And always clean the prep spaces . You have written a good blog 👍

I agree. I also check the temperature of my meat to make sure it is cooked sufficiently. Also cooling food down rapidly is wise. Isn’t wise to but the stock pot of chicken soup into the frig. It’s better to put into more shallow dishes to help it cool faster. This is what we do in long term care. If you want to know more details about rapid cooling just ask me. Monitor how long the food is out at room temperature. More than 2 hours it should be reheated to 165 for 15 min. Cold foods should be kept on ice and then discarded after about 2 hours- depending on the temperature it rose it. Don’t save if for the next day. Serve in smaller batches to be safer.

Foodborne illnesses can be prevented by often employing several microbial controls according to the Huddle's principle. Observation of personal hygiene, hygiene of stoerage facilities like refrigerators, chiller units, shelves, utensils among others comes in handy. Maintaining appropriate storage temperatures often inhibits microbial growth. Timely consumption and observing the FIFO or FEFO principles would held immensely. Separate raw food from ready to eat foods to avoid cross contamination.

Get a good thermometer and use it to measure the internal temperature of items at the thickest part of what you are cooking. Use temperature charts to determine what is the minimum safe temperature.

Cook all food to these minimum internal temperatures as measured with a food thermometer before removing food from the heat source. The "Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart" is highly recommended in this manner.

to ensure minimal microbial growth, avoid repeated heating and refrigeration of leftover food as this provides avenues for microbial proliferation in the food. this becomes a greater hazard as the food becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and unsuitable for consumption

According to the FDA’s regulations and CDC’s food cooling guidelines, food should be cooled in two stages to keep it safe for consumption. Here is the 2 stage cooling process you should follow in your kitchen: 1- Food must be cooled from 135 degrees Fahrenheit to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (57 degrees Celsius to 21 degrees Celsius) within 2 hours. 2- Food must then be cooled from 70 degrees Fahrenheit to 41 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius to 5 degrees Celsius) within 4 hours. ... - Also, Follow the proper cooling techniques: 1- Reduce size in shallow pans (portion food into smaller amounts and refrigerate) 2- Using the ice cubes as water ingredient or use the ice-water bath. 3- Using ice paddles 4- Using blast/shock freezer

According to the WHO, key No. 5 of the Five Keys to Safer Food is "Use food and water from safe sources". Also, the Four R's of food allergies (hospitality and restaurant) are highly recommended. - Refer - Review  - Remember - Respond

* You must implement: Food safety and quality culture plan: The attitudes, values and/or beliefs which are prevalent at the site, relating to the importance of product safety and the confidence in the product safety systems, processes and procedures used by the site. * You must audit (assess /evaluate) Food safety & Quality Culture plan effectiveness : By conducting employee surveys and developing key performance indicators, or KPIs, around metrics like audit scores or hygiene compliance can help quantify any improvements in your organization's culture of food safety

Also learn the mechanisms of inoculation and how to retard growth of different bacteria for instance listeria and can survive in cold storage hence take extra precautionary measures against this. Inculcate a culture of ensuring safe food handling by family members and inform them on what works for the climate and environment you are located.

Sometimes, as human beings, we don't practice these **simple** food habits and we have a mindset that, you know nothing is not going to happen in terms of sickness. However, that is not the case, there are dangerous microorganisms that can harm you and affect your health. So, let's change our mindset, yes educate and implement them into the kitchen (that's where it starts).

Proper cleaning of serving utensils including drying or rinsing them with portable water is a simple measure that can be overlooked but it is a critical control point.

Washing of utensils and hands as well as eating tables are very important. Unhealthy environment can pollute healthy food through cross contamination.