Food Safety for Moms to Be: Highlights - Entertaining All Year
|A year-round food safety guide to help keep yourself and your guests safe while entertaining.
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Whether you're hosting or attending a shower, pot-luck dinner, birthday party, school fair, or other social event - they all involve food! Enjoy these events while keeping your unborn baby safe from foodborne bacteria. Use these tips to help you select, prepare, and handle food safely year-round!
Preventing foodborne illness is easy as...
|1. Clean||Wash hands and surfaces often.|
|2. Separate||Don't cross-contaminate.|
|3. Cook||Cook to proper temperatures.|
|4. Chill||Refrigerate promptly.|
For more information about the 4 Simple Steps to Food Safety, see Lifelong Food Safety.
First Things First
Always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water before and after handling food.
Safe Food Handling for Social Events
Make food safety the center of your entertaining activities during your pregnancy and beyond!
4 Steps to Safe Food Shopping
- Separate raw meat, poultry, and seafood from other foods in your grocery shopping cart and your grocery bags. Raw juices from these foods can contain harmful bacteria, which can spread to other foods. Consider placing these raw foods inside plastic bags to keep the juices contained.
- Don't purchase foods if the "sell by" date has passed.
- Transport food home right away and refrigerate perishables immediately to prevent any bacteria from rapidly growing in the food.
- When the weather's hot, place groceries in the air-conditioned passenger compartment of your car rather than the hot trunk. Bacteria can multiply rapidly at high temperatures.
|Take Note, Moms-to-Be!
Don't include these foods on your shopping list. They're not safe for you or your unborn baby.
|A Note About Listeria
This bacterium that can be particularly harmful to you and your unborn baby and can be found in these foods:
3 Ways to Safely Defrost Frozen Foods
- In the refrigerator. Cold temperatures keep most harmful bacteria from multiplying.
- In cold water. Change the water every half-hour to keep the water cold.
- Using the microwave, but cook the food immediately after it's defrosted.
Note: Don't defrost foods at room temperature. Bacteria can grow in the "danger zone," the range of temperatures usually between 40° and 140°F (4° and 60°C).
Be creative and tempt your party guests with an array of fun platters, but keep food selections safe. Here's how:
- Heating foods to the right temperature for the proper amount of time kills harmful bacteria, so cook meat, poultry, fish, and eggs thoroughly. For the recommended cooking temperatures, see Cook.
- Some raw eggs can contain harmful bacteria. Some of your favorite homemade recipes may call for raw or lightly-cooked eggs. These may include recipes for Caesar salad dressing, ice cream, custards, chocolate mousse, and some sauces. Here are safe ways to make your favorite egg-containing foods:
- Add the eggs to the amount of liquid called for in the recipe, then heat the mixture thoroughly.
- Use store-bought products of the foods listed above, which are often already cooked or pasteurized.
- 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).
Refrigerate all perishables (foods that can spoil or become contaminated by bacteria if unrefrigerated) up until serving time. These foods include:
- Finger sandwiches
- Cheese chunks
- Fruit salad
- Foods that contain dairy products
Plan a bacteria-free buffet with these helpful tips:
If you're planning a buffet at home and are not sure how quickly the food will be eaten, keep buffet portions small. Prepare a number of small platters and dishes ahead of time. Store cold back-up dishes in the refrigerator or keep hot dishes in the oven set at 200° F to 250° F (-73° C to -23° C) prior to serving. This way, your late-arriving guests can enjoy the same appetizing arrangements as the early arrivals.
Hot foods should be kept at an internal temperature of 140° F (60° C) or warmer. Use a food thermometer to check. Serve or keep food hot in chafing dishes, crock pots, and warming trays. Note: Some warmers only hold food at 110° F to 120° F (-163° C to -153° C), so check the product label to make sure your warmer has the capability to hold foods at 140° F or warmer.
Cold foods should be kept at 40° F (4 ° C) or colder. Keep cold foods refrigerated until serving time. If food is going to stay out on the buffet table longer than two hours, place plates of cold food on ice to retain the chill.
Keep It Fresh
Don't add new food to an already-filled serving dish. Instead, replace nearly-empty serving dishes with freshly-filled ones. Bacteria from people's hands may have contaminated the food. Plus, bacteria may have started to multiply at room temperature.
Watch the Clock
Remember the 2-Hour Rule: Discard any perishables left out at room temperature for more than two 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 one hour.
Leaving with Leftovers?
Be sure to refrigerate leftovers immediately after you arrive home.