Protect our family from food poisoning

How can we protect our families from food poisoning?  What should we be doing to keep our food safe, especially food that we purchase?  Some of these tips sound so ridiculously easy that we may ignore them.  Tip 1 from the foodsafety.gov website says, “wash hands and surfaces often.” 

·        Do you wash your hands with soap and running water for 20 seconds?  20 seconds seems like a long time when you are washing your hands.  I learned to sing “Happy birthday” (in my head so I am not obnoxious) twice to equal 20 seconds.  I would guess that many people do not wash their hands for 20 seconds. For more details on proper hand washing, see http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/basics/clean/index.html

·         When should you wish your hands?  When considering food preparation, we should wash our hands before we begin working on food, during and after food preparation.  If you sneeze, cough, or rub your nose, please wash your hands before any more food preparation.  If you go to the bathroom, assist someone who is ill or change a child’s diaper, please wash your hands before food preparation.  If you touch any animal, even your beloved pet, please wash your hands before returning to food prep.  If you work with raw meat, eggs or seafood or their juices, please wash your hands before continuing on with food prep.  If you handle the garbage, your hands should be washed before food prep.  More handwashing tip can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/  Next time we talk about washing food prep area and utensils.