Food Tips & Info > Food SafetyApril 25, 2005

Safe steps in food handling, cooking, and storage are essential to prevent foodborne illness. You can't see, smell, or taste harmful bacteria that may cause illness. In every step of food preparation, follow the four Fight BAC! guidelines to keep food safe:

• Clean -- Wash hands and surfaces often.
• Separate -- Don't cross-contaminate.
• Cook -- Cook to proper temperatures.
• Chill -- Refrigerate promptly.

Shopping

• Purchase refrigerated or frozen items after selecting your non-perishables.
• Never choose meat or poultry in packaging that is torn or leaking.
• Do not buy food past "Sell-By," "Use-By," or other expiration dates.

Storage

• Always refrigerate perishable food within 2 hours (1 hour when the temperature is above 90 °F).
• Check the temperature of your refrigerator and freezer with an appliance thermometer. The refrigerator should be at 40 °F or below and the freezer at 0 °F or below.
• Cook or freeze fresh poultry, fish, ground meats, and variety meats within 2 days; other beef, veal, lamb, or pork, within 3 to 5 days.
• Perishable food such as meat and poultry should be wrapped securely to maintain quality and to prevent meat juices from getting onto other food.
• To maintain quality when freezing meat and poultry in its original package, wrap the package again with foil or plastic wrap that is recommended for the freezer.
• In general, high-acid canned food such as tomatoes, grapefruit, and pineapple can be stored on the shelf for 12 to 18 months. Low-acid canned food such as meat, poultry, fish, and most vegetables will keep 2 to 5 years -- if the can remains in good condition and has been stored in a cool, clean, and dry place. Discard cans that are dented, leaking, bulging, or rusted.

Preparation

• Always wash hands before and after handling food.
• Don't cross-contaminate. Keep raw meat, poultry, fish, and their juices away from other food. After cutting raw meats, wash hands, cutting board, knife, and counter tops with hot, soapy water.
• Marinate meat and poultry in a covered dish in the refrigerator.
• Sanitize cutting boards by using a solution of 1 teaspoon chlorine bleach in 1 quart of water.

Thawing

• Refrigerator: The refrigerator allows slow, safe thawing. Make sure thawing meat and poultry juices do not drip onto other food.
• Cold Water: For faster thawing, place food in a leak-proof plastic bag. Submerge in cold tap water. Change the water every 30 minutes. Cook immediately after thawing.
• Microwave: Cook meat and poultry immediately after microwave thawing.

Cooking

• Cook ground meats to 160 °F; ground poultry to 165 °F.
• Beef, veal, and lamb steaks, roasts, and chops may be cooked to 145 °F; all cuts of fresh pork, 160 °F.
• Whole poultry should reach 180 °F in the thigh; breasts, 170 °F.

Serving

• Hot food should be held at 140 °F or warmer.
• Cold food should be held at 40 °F or colder.
• When serving food at a buffet, keep food hot with chafing dishes, slow cookers, and warming trays. Keep food cold by nesting dishes in bowls of ice or use small serving trays and replace them often.
• Perishable food should not be left out more than 2 hours at room temperature (1 hour when the temperature is above 90 °F).

Leftovers

• Discard any food left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour if the temperature was above 90 °F).
• Place food into shallow containers and immediately put in the refrigerator or freezer for rapid cooling.
• Use cooked leftovers within 4 days.

Refreezing

Meat and poultry defrosted in the refrigerator may be refrozen before or after cooking. If thawed by other methods, cook before refreezing.

Cold Storage Chart

These short, but safe, time limits will help keep refrigerated food from spoiling or becoming dangerous to eat. Because freezing keeps food safe indefinitely, recommended storage times are for quality only.

Cold Storage Chart
Product	Refrigerator (40 °F)	Freezer (0 °F)
Eggs
Fresh, in shell	3 to 5 weeks	Do not freeze
Raw yolks & whites	2 to 4 days	1 year
Hard cooked	1 week	Does not freeze well
Liquid pasteurized eggs, egg substitutes
opened	3 days	Does not freeze well
unopened	10 days	1 year
Mayonnaise Commercial, refrigerate after opening	2 months	Do not freeze
Frozen Dinners & Entrees Keep frozen until ready to heat	--	3 to 4 months
Deli & Vacuum-Packed Products
Store-prepared (or homemade) egg, chicken, ham, tuna, & macaroni salads	3 to 5 days	Does not freeze well
Hot dogs & Luncheon Meats
Hot dogs
opened package	1 week	1 to 2 months
unopened package	2 weeks	1 to 2 months
Luncheon meat
opened package	3 to 5 days	1 to 2 months
unopened package	2 weeks	1 to 2 months
Bacon & Sausage
Bacon	7 days	1 month
Sausage, raw -- from chicken, turkey, pork, beef	1 to 2 days	1 to 2 months
Smoked breakfast links, patties	7 days	1 to 2 months
Hard sausage -- pepperoni, jerky sticks	2 to 3 weeks	1 to 2 months
Summer sausage labeled "Keep Refrigerated"
opened	3 weeks	1 to 2 months
unopened	3 months	1 to 2 months
Ham, Corned Beef
Corned beef, in pouch with pickling juices	5 to 7 days	Drained, 1 month
Ham, canned labeled "Keep Refrigerated
opened	3 to 5 days	1 to 2 months
unopened	6 to 9 months	Do not freeze
Ham, fully cooked vacuum sealed at plant, undated, unopened	2 weeks	1 to 2 months
Ham, fully cooked vacuum sealed at plant, dated, unopened	"Use-By" date on package	1 to 2 months
Ham, fully cooked
whole	7 days	1 to 2 months
half	3 to 5 days	1 to 2 months
slices	3 to 4 days	1 to 2 months
Hamburger, Ground & Stew Meat
Hamburger & stew meat	1 to 2 days	3 to 4 months
Ground turkey, veal, pork, lamb, & mixtures of them	1 to 2 days	3 to 4 months
Fresh Beef, Veal, Lamb, Pork
Steaks	3 to 5 days	6 to 12 months
Chops	3 to 5 days	4 to 6 months
Roasts	3 to 5 days	4 to 12 months
Variety meats -- tongue, liver, heart, kidneys, chitterlings	1 to 2 days	3 to 4 months
Pre-stuffed, uncooked pork chops, lamb chops, or chicken breasts stuffed with dressing	1 day	Does not freeze well
Soups & Stews Vegetable or meat added	3 to 4 days	2 to 3 months
Cooked Meat Leftovers
Cooked meat & meat casseroles	3 to 4 days	2 to 3 months
Gravy & meat broth	1 to 2 days	2 to 3 months
Fresh Poultry
Chicken or turkey, whole	1 to 2 days	1 year
Chicken or turkey, pieces	1 to 2 days	9 months
Giblets	1 to 2 days	3 to 4 months
Cooked Poultry Leftovers
Fried chicken	3 to 4 days	4 months
Cooked poultry casseroles	3 to 4 days	4 to 6 months
Pieces, plain	3 to 4 days	4 months
Pieces covered with broth, gravy	1 to 2 days	6 months
Chicken nuggets, patties	1 to 2 days	1 to 3 months
Pizza, cooked	3 to 4 days	1 to 2 months
Stuffing, cooked	3 to 4 days	1 month

Source: USDA

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