Fight BAC! - Kids a Cookin

Fight BAC!Keep Family Food SafeCLEAN: Wash hands, counters,and your table oftenand carefully.Bacteria that make yousick are invisible. Yet theycan spread everywhere inyour kitchen, then to thefood your family eats.Involve your child withfood safety at home:❑ Make proper hand washing a family habit:before and after handling food, and after usingthe bathroom, changing diapers, and handlingpets.❑ Wash kitchen utensils and surfaces with hot,soapy water. Let your child help.❑ Wash cutting boards and sponges in hot, soapywater, each time they’re used.❑ Clean with paper towels; toss them whenyou’re done. Wash cloth towels often in thehot cycle of your washing machine. Makecleaning fun with colorful towels.SEPARATE: Keep raw and cookedfood separate.Harmful bacteriacan spread fromone food to others.Show your childhow to separateraw meat, poultry,and fish from otherfoods.❑ Keep raw meat, poultry, and fish wrapped, insealed containers or plastic bags, so the juiceswon’t drip out.❑ Wash anything (including your hands) thattouches raw meat, poultry, or fish before usingit with other food.❑ Never put cooked food on the same plate orcutting board that held raw food – unless youwash it first.Hang on the refrigerator as a familyreminder. Check ✓ off what youalready do!Provided byNIBBLES FOR HEALTH 33 Nutrition Newsletters for Parents of Young Children, USDA, Food and Nutrition Service

Fight BAC!Keep Family Food SafeCHILL: Refrigerate food rightaway.Cold temperatures keepbacteria from growing andmultiplying. Your childcan help keep foods cold:❑ Make sure therefrigerator door closes.Together check thetemperature:refrigerator –below 40 degreesFahrenheit; freezer –below 0 degrees Fahrenheit.❑ Thaw frozen food in the refrigerator ormicrowave oven, not on the counter.❑ Chill foods that spoil. Freeze or refrigerateleftovers and other cooked foods within twohours of cooking.❑ Put leftovers in small, shallow containers tocool faster.COOK: Cook food to a safe,proper temperature.To kill food-bornebacteria that canmake you sick, cookfood long enoughand at a high enoughtemperature for thatfood. Show your childhow carefully you check:❑ Use a clean meat thermometer to check:• Cooked hamburgers: at least 160 degrees.• Whole, cooked chicken: 180 degrees.❑ Cook eggs until yolks and whites are firm.❑ Cook fish until it’s not shiny and it flakeseasily with a fork.❑ Reheat leftovers to at least 165 degrees.❑ Wash your thermometer with hot, soapy water.Wiping with a towel isn’t enough.❑ Be sure your microwaved food has no coldspots. Turning (by hand or turntable) andstirring while food cooks helps.NIBBLES FOR HEALTH 33 Nutrition Newsletters for Parents of Young Children, USDA, Food and Nutrition Service