4.5: Food Safety

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

• Outline important considerations for buying, storing, preparing, cooking, and serving food safely.

Licensing Regulations Title 22 Regulations that relate to this chapter include: 101227 FOOD SERVICE Food selection, storage preparation, and service shall be safe and healthful and of the quality and quantity necessary to meet the needs of children. Full-day programs shall offer a midmorning and midafternoon snack and lunch (may be provided by the family). Half-day programs shall offer a midmorning or midafternoon snack. Menus must be in writing and posted at least one week in advance. Commercial food shall be approved by appropriate authorities. All persons engaged in food preparation or service shall observer personal hygiene and sanitation processes. Pesticides and similar toxic substances must not be stored with food. Soaps and cleaning compounds must be stored separately from food. Kitchens and food areas shall be clean. All food shall be protected against contamination. Necessary equipment includes a sink, refrigeration, hot and cold running water, and storage space. This equipment must be well maintained. 101427 INFANT CARE FOOD SERVICE In addition to 101227, the following shall apply: - Bottles, dishes, and food containers brought from infant’s home shall be labeled with infant’s name and current date. - Formula partially consumed in a bottle shall be discarded at end of each day. - Food shall be discarded if not consumed within 72 hours of date on the container label. - Commercially prepared baby food in jars shall be transferred to a dish before being fed to the infant. Any food left over in the dish at the end of a meal shall be discarded. - Bottles and nipples in center shall be sterilized. - Infants shall not be bathed in, and diapers or clothing shall not be rinsed in the food preparation area. 101438.1 INFANT CARE GENERAL SANITATION Each caregiver shall wash his/her hands with soap and water before feeding and after each diaper change.

Introduction

To protect children’s health, proper hygiene and sanitation processes must be followed closely when preparing food for a program. Only safe food should be purchased. And how that food is stored, prepared, and served must follow proper protocol to prevent foodborne illness.

Food Safety

Even the most nutritious, visually appealing, affordable, delicious food won’t keep children healthy if it isn’t stored, prepared, and served safely. Let’s look at recommendations for food safety in early care and education programs based on the California Department of Social Services and Child Care Advocate Program’s Child Care Center Self-Assessment Guide – Safe Food Handling and Preparation: Licensing Requirements and Best Practices.

Figure 15.18 – Having a kitchen with appropriate equipment that is easy to keep sanitary is important.⁷⁴⁹

Safe Shopping

When purchasing food for an early care and education program:

• Do not buy or use meat, poultry, and meat products unless they have been inspected.
• Do not use or buy home-canned food from outside sources, food from dented, rusted, bulging, or leaking cans, or food from cans without labels.
• Do not buy or use raw or non-pasteurized milk or milk products, or non-pasteurized juices.
• Place frozen food and perishables such as meat, poultry, or fish in plastic bags and put them in the shopping cart last.
• Do not buy torn or leaking packages.
• Do not buy foods past “sell-by” or expiration dates.⁷⁵⁰

Storage Before Preparation

To keep foods safe from spoilage and contamination before you prepare them:

• Keep your refrigerator and freezer clean and in safe condition.
• Store soaps, detergents, cleaning compounds, or similar substances away from food supplies to prevent accidental poisoning, potential leakage problems, and contamination. Always keep these substances away from children.
• Do not store pesticides and other similar toxic substances where you store, cook, or prepare food, or where you store kitchen equipment or utensils. Always keep these substances away from children.
• Unpack perishable foods from the car first and put them in the refrigerator right away.
• Keep the refrigerator temperature at 40° F or less, and the freezer at 0° F, to slow the growth of most bacteria and keep them from multiplying.
• Check the temperature of your refrigerator and freezer daily with an appliance thermometer.
• Keep all food stored in the refrigerator and freezer covered, wrapped, stored in airtight containers, or otherwise protected from contamination.
• Wrap raw meat, poultry, and seafood securely to prevent raw juices from contaminating other foods. Store them in the meat drawer or coldest section of the refrigerator or freezer.
• Do not store perishable foods, such as eggs, in the refrigerator door. The temperature of storage bins in the door fluctuates more than the temperature in the cabinet.
• Cook or freeze fresh poultry, fish, ground meat, and mixed meats within 2 days after you buy them. Cook or freeze other beef, veal, lamb, or pork within 3 to 5 days.
• Use the cold storage chart in Table 15.9 for guidelines of how long different food products can be safely stored in the refrigerator and freezer.
• Store food that does not need refrigeration in a way to keep insects and rodents from entering the food. For example, keep storage containers off the floor.
• Store dry, bulk foods that are not in their original, unopened containers off the floor in clean metal, glass, or food-grade plastic containers with tight-fitting covers. Label and date the containers.
• Keep storerooms clean, dry, well ventilated, and cool (about 60° F).
• These storage guidelines for home-refrigerated foods will keep them from spoiling or becoming dangerous to eat. The guidelines for freezer storage are for quality only. Frozen foods remain safe indefinitely.⁷⁵¹

Table 15.9 – Cold Storage Chart⁷⁵²

Food Product	Refrigerator (40 F)	Freezer (0 F)
Eggs Fresh, in shell Hard-cooked	3 to 5 weeks 1 week	Don’t freeze Don’t freeze well
Liquid Pasteurized Eggs, Egg Substitute Opened Unopened	3 days 10 days	Don’t freeze well 1 year
Deli and Vacuum-Packed Products Egg, chicken, ham, tuna, and macaroni salads	3 to 5 days	Don’t freeze well
Hot Dogs Opened package Unopened package	1 week 2 weeks	1 to 2 months 1 to 2 months
Luncheon Meat Open package or deli-sliced Unopened package	3 to 5 days 2 weeks	1 to 2 months 1 to 2 months
Bacon and Sausage Bacon Sausage, raw – from pork, chicken, turkey, and beef	7 days 1 to 2 days	1 month 1 to 2 months
Hamburger and Other Ground Meats Hamburger ground beef, turkey, veal, pork, lamb, and mixtures of them	1 to 2 days	3 to 4 months
Fresh Beef, Veal, Lamb, and Pork Steaks Chops Roasts	3 to 5 days 3 to 5 days 3 to 5 days	6 to 12 months 4 to 6 months 4 to 12 months
Fresh Poultry Chicken or turkey, whole Chicken or turkey, pieces	1 to 2 days 1 to 2 days	1 year 9 months
Seafood Lean fish (flounder, haddock, halibut, etc.) Fatty fish (salmon, tuna, etc.)	1 to 2 days 1 to 2 days	6 to 8 months 2 to 3 months
Soups and Stews Vegetable or meat added	3 to 4 days	2 to 3 months
Leftovers Cooked meat or poultry Chicken nuggets or patties Pizza	3 to 4 days 3 to 4 days 3 to 4 days	2 to 6 months 1 to 3 months 1 to 2 months

Preparing

Safe food preparation practices include:

• Keep all kitchen equipment, dishes, and utensils clean and in safe condition.
• Wash dishes and eating and serving utensils in a dishwasher (reach a temperature of 165° F during the washing or drying cycle) or by hand with a sanitizing agent.
• Keep the food preparation area separate from the eating, napping, play, toilet and bathroom areas, and from areas where animals are kept. Never use the food preparation area as a passageway while food is being prepared.
• Make sure that all staff wash their hands before preparing food, serving and eating meals and snacks, and after toileting, diapering, and outdoor activities. The best way to combat the spread of communicable disease or germs is by careful handwashing with liquid soap, rinsing under running water, and drying with paper towels.
• Do not wash hands in food preparation sinks to prevent contamination of food.
• Keep all surfaces that come in contact with food (including tables and countertops), floors, and shelving in good repair. Use smooth and nonporous materials that are easily cleaned and sanitized.
• Use cutting boards that can be disinfected (such as glass, Formica, or plastic). Always clean them with soap and hot water after each use.
• Do not use cutting boards with crevices and cuts because they can hide food material that can grow bacteria and contaminate the next food cut on the surface.

Figure 15.19 – A glass cutting board doesn’t develop cuts and crevices and can easily be disinfected.⁷⁵³

• Always clean and sanitize cutting boards, knives, and other utensils after they come in contact with raw meat, poultry, and seafood. Use one cutting board for raw meat products and another for salads and ready-to-eat foods to prevent cross-contamination of bacteria from one food to another.
• Air-dry hand-washed dishes to eliminate recontamination from hands or towels.
• Use dishes with smooth, hard-glazed surfaces that do not have cracks or chips.
• Clean and sanitize table surfaces before and after use.
• Sanitize kitchen dishcloths and sponges often because these materials can hide bacteria and promote their growth.
• Wash kitchen towels and cloths often in hot water in the washing machine.
• Clean the can opener blade after each use.
• Keep garbage in a covered container, away from children. Empty the garbage every day to reduce odors, control insects and rodents, and protect children and the child care center from contamination.
• Occasionally sanitize the kitchen sink, drain, disposal, and connecting pipe by pouring a solution of one teaspoon of chlorine bleach in one quart of water or a commercial cleaning solution down the drain.
• Wash fresh fruits and vegetables with water, and soap and scrub brush when needed, to reduce or eliminate any pesticides or residues.
• Do not allow infants and toddlers in the food preparation area to protect them from kitchen hazards.⁷⁵⁴

Thawing

To protect against foodborne illness, follow the following practices when thawing frozen foods

• Do not thaw meat, poultry, and fish products on the counter or sink because harmful bacteria can grow at room temperature.
• Thaw food in the refrigerator or microwave oven.
• Immediately cook food thawed in the microwave.
• Use defrosted food (cooked or frozen) within 1 to 2 days.⁷⁵⁵

Cooking

Foods must be cooked at high enough temperatures and for long enough to kill any possible microorganisms they may be contaminated with. Here are some general guidelines

• Never serve raw or slightly cooked eggs. Cook eggs until the white is firm and the yolk begins to harden. Substitute pasteurized eggs for raw eggs if sampling homemade dough, cake batter, or eating other foods made with raw eggs such as ice cream, mayonnaise, and eggnog.
• Use a meat thermometer to determine the temperature in the thickest part of the meat.⁷⁵⁶ Cook all food to these minimum internal temperatures provided in Table 15.8 as measured with a food thermometer before removing food from the heat source. For reasons of personal preference, consumers may choose to cook food to higher temperatures.⁷⁵⁷

Figure 15.20 – Use a meat thermometer to ensure food is cooked properly.

Table 15.8 – Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart⁷⁵⁸

Food Product	Minimum Internal Temperature (F) & Rest Time
Ground meats	160
Beef, Pork, Veal & Lamb Steaks, chops, roasts	145 and allow to rest for at least 3 minutes
Ham, fresh or smoked (uncooked)	145 and allow to rest for at least 3 minutes
Fully Cooked Ham (to reheat)	Reheat cooked hams packaged in USDA-inspected plants to 140 °F; all others to 165 °F
All Poultry (breasts, whole bird, legs, thighs, and wings, ground poultry, and stuffing)	165
Eggs	160
Fish & Shellfish	145
Leftovers, to reheat	165
Leftovers	165

Food Service

To continue to protect against foodborne illness and prevent injury, food must be served following food safety guidelines, including:

• Keep hot foods hot (over 140° F) and cold food cold (under 40° F) until they are eaten or cooked.
• Carry perishable picnic food in a cooler with a cold pack or ice. Store the cooler in the shade and open it as little as possible.
• Do not leave cooked, perishable foods, including hot foods such as soups or sauces, out for more than two hours after cooking (one hour in temperatures over 90° F). The bacteria that cause foodborne illness grow rapidly at room temperature.
• Never offer foods that are round, hard, small, thick and sticky, smooth, or slippery to children under four years of age because they can cause choking. Hot dogs (sliced into rounds), whole grapes, hard candy, nuts, seeds, raw peas, dried fruit, pretzels, chips, peanuts, popcorn, marshmallows, spoonfuls of peanut butter, and chunks of meat, which are larger than can be swallowed whole are examples of foods that can cause choking.
• Cut food into small pieces for infants (¼ inch) and toddlers (½ inch).
• Do not use microwave ovens for warming infant bottles and infant food because the microwave can heat liquids or food unevenly and to scalding temperatures. The milk or formula in a microwaved bottle may reach a higher temperature than the outside of the bottle.⁷⁵⁹

Handling Leftovers

All food that has been served to children must be discarded after the meal or snack. If a program chooses to save food that has not been served to children, follow these guidelines:

• Divide large amounts of leftovers (for example, large cuts of meat or poultry) into smaller portions and place them in shallow containers before refrigerating for faster cooling.
• Use refrigerated leftovers within three to four days or discard them.
• Bring sauces, soups, and gravy to a boil when reheating. Heat other leftovers to 165° F.⁷⁶⁰

Pause to Reflect What are some new things you learned about food safety? Do you have any questions about food safety that weren’t addressed in this section? If so, where could you find answers to them?

Summary

With a solid grounding in food safety policies and practices, early childhood program staff can buy, store, prepare, cook, and serve food to children safely.

Resources for Further Exploration Federal Food Safety Gateway: www.foodsafety.gov CDC Food Safety: https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/ Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs Interactive Web-Based Tool: https://foodbuyingguide.fns.usda.gov/