Spring Food Safety Tips

Blog post written by Jamie Dewig, IUPUI Dietetic Intern, CPT, CYI

Food is fun, but only when it is safe. There are many ways to keep food safe and to know when food is beginning to expire. April is a perfect time to do some spring cleaning and prepare your kitchen for a healthier lifestyle. April is also a time of celebration as Easter rolls around. Follow these tips for finding, storing, prepping, and serving food to make sure that everyone stays safe and can enjoy the approaching spring weather!

Image from www.gianteagle.com/seasonal/april-hub/easter-dinner

Shopping for and Harvesting Food 
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• Pay attention to dates on products. ​Expiration dates are important to look for when purchasing foods, but not all dates mean the same thing.
  • ​“Best by” refers to the time that the product will have the best flavor or quality.
  • “Sell by” is an indication to the store of when to get the product sold.
  • Most products have a small window of time within which they can be used after the "best by" or "sell by" date".
  • “Use by” dates are an indication of how long the food is safe, so it is not recommended to consume food that is past the stamped “use by” date.
• Remove dirt from fresh-picked produce before placing it in clean carrying materials when gardening. When shopping, check to see that packages are clean and undamaged.
• Try to choose foods that are high quality. Look for produce that is just ripe and without cuts, bruises, or holes if possible. If these blemishes are present, try to use those foods first as they will often spoil faster. If the blemish is small, you may also be able to cut around it and still enjoy the good parts of the food. Avoid or discard any produce that shows mold, signs of decay or rot.
• Handle produce with care to avoid damage or bruising when harvesting or bringing home from the grocery store or food pantry. When shopping, make sure that delicate produce gets placed on top of the heavier items to ensure it does not get squished.
• Avoid meat that looks off color or any packages that might be bulging. This could be an indication that the meat is getting older or has been out of a safe temperature zone and is starting to spoil.
• When shopping, pick out cold food items last and make these the first things you put away at home keep them at a safe temperature. ​

Image from www.ppmco.org/health-and-wellness/health-education

Safe Food Storage 

• Make sure where you store food is kept clean and at the proper temperature. Do not allow spills or spoiled food to remain in your storage areas.
• Room temperature or pantry/cupboard items:
  • Store items that can sit at room temperature in a cool, dark room, around 50-70°F. 
  • Airtight containers are essential to longer storage time as they help ensure pantry items to not go stale or become contaminated. 
• Refrigerated items:
  • Refrigerators should be kept between 35 and 38°F to ensure foods stay at or below 40°F. It is helpful to use a thermometer in the fridge to make sure the temperature remains steady.
  • ​Overloading the fridge or emptying it too quickly could affect its ability to hold a safe temperature. Placing hot foods in the fridge can also alter the temperature of the fridge, putting your foods at risk.
  • Tip: For large hot containers, poor into smaller portion sized containers before sticking in the refrigerator to allow for faster cooling and easier storage.
• Frozen items:
  • Freezers should be kept at a 0°F or below.
  • Storing foods in a tightly sealed container can help reduce freezer burn and increase the life of the product in the freezer.
  • Just like the fridge, overloading and emptying the freezer too quickly, or popping hot food right in the freezer could affect the temperature and safety of your frozen foods. 

Image from worldcentralkitchen.blogspot.com

• ​Store food in the proper containers:
  • ​Foods like opened cans of fruits and vegetables store well in sealing plastic containers. It is not recommended to store open cans of food in the container they came in unless it is a glass jar.
  • Dry foods also store well in sealing plastic containers or Mason jars.
  • It is recommended to store greasy meats, fish, and cooked pasta in glass as these products do not always sit well for long periods of time in plastic. Deli meat is usually fine in plastic.
  • Labeling and dating your containers can make finding what you have very easy and efficient. It can also help you keep track of what needs to be used first
  • Clear containers are helpful because they allow you to see exactly what you have. 
• Other food storage tips:
  • ​Items like potatoes, berries, tomatoes, grapes, peppers, and cucumber do best when they are stored without washing. Bacteria can break them down faster if washed before stored, but it is still important to wash before consuming these foods.
  • If items are visibly dirty, you may want to rinse the dirt off then dry well before storing. This will help to avoid the moisture sitting on them for too long.
  • Pay attention to the dates on the packages. Store foods with later dates in the back and foods with closer approaching dates up front. This helps you always have easiest access to the foods that expire first.​​​

Image from www.hgtv.com/lifestyle/clean-and-organize/how-to-organize-kitchen-pantry

Preparation Tips
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• Wash your hands with soap and water and scrub them together for 20 seconds before handling or prepping food.
• Before eating make sure the produce is clean of dirt and other potential contaminates by washing them well under running water. Soap and bleach should never be used on produce such as fruits and vegetables as they are not made to be ingested. Even trace amounts of these chemicals can make you ill.
• Make sure foods are cooked to the proper internal cooking temperatures. View this chart for appropriate cooking temperatures for a variety of foods.​​

Image from jagwire.augusta.edu

Safely Sharing and Serving Food 
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• Keep hot food hot, and cold food cold.
  • ​The range of 40°F to 140°F is considered a danger zone for food. This is the range of temperatures where bacteria is most likely to thrive, so avoiding the danger zone can help reduce risk of various foodborne illnesses. When preparing a meal to serve, make sure your foods stay out of this range.
  • Keep cold food in a cooler or on ice. Store hot food in a food warmer, place in a container surrounded by a larger container with hot water, or have a heat source under your food. 
• Keep food covered, especially if you are enjoying a meal outside as the weather gets nicer. This will help keep it clean and hold in a bit of the temperature until the food is eaten, plus it keeps your food bug free!  

​Spring is the perfect time for new beginnings. If you are not currently using these tips, now could be the perfect time to incorporate them into your lifestyle! Reorganizing and cleaning up can give you such a refreshed feeling and make your space feel like new. Keeping your food and spaces for food clean and organized will help to ensure a safe and efficient environment for meals. I hope these tips are helpful - don’t forget to have fun! 

For more resources and information, visit these websites:

• Foodsafety.gov - information on a variety of food safety topics
• Food Keeper - website and free smartphone app to help you know how long food is safe to eat after the package date
• Stilltasty.com - another resource for estimating how long food is still good to eat
• Consumer's Guide to Food Storage for Safety and Quality - great tips for food storage
• "4 Bases of Food Safety" - printable handout in English and Spanish with food safety basics

Sources

• food.unl.edu/free-resource/food-storage
• food.unl.edu/handling-produce-safely-garden 
• ​www.bonappetit.com/story/best-food-storage-containers