City Of Crawfordsville Urges Us To Practice Food Safety This Summer

By Matt Lepper

Whenever handling food, be sure to wash your hands thoroughly before even laying a finger on any food source to avoid food-borne illnesses. This also goes for immediately after handling food, especially raw meat, poultry, and seafood items. However, there are some different guidelines for washing the actual food items themselves. For more firm fruits and vegetables such as melons and zucchini, use a vegetable brush to scrub them under cool running water. Dry said fruits and vegetables with a paper towel or clean cloth to prevent bacteria prominence and spread. As for more delicate fruits and vegetables, gently rub them under cool running water until any debris is gone.

However, DO NOT rinse or wash pulty, seafood, or meat items. This greatly increases the risk of bacteria spread and cross-contamination. If you have to rinse meat off, ensure that all surrounding surfaces are properly sanitized and cleaned. Finally, ensure that your raw meats, seafood, or poultry is not touching or close to ready-to-eat foods such as salads and dips. Proximity between these two can lead to cross-contamination and bacteria spread.

Now that your food is properly cleaned and prepared, you can grill! There are a couple of guidelines regarding grilling, and they differ for meats and fruits/vegetables. For meats, have a meat thermometer handy before grilling, as there are different internal temperatures that signify the foods are thoroughly cooked. Beef, pork, lamb, and veal should have an internal temperature of 145°F. Ground meats, including burgers and hot dogs, should have an internal temperature of 160°F. Whole poultry, poultry breasts, and ground poultry should have an internal temperature of 165°F, and fish should have an internal temperature of 145°F.