How Safe Is Your Food?

There are four cardinal principles of food safety: clean, separate, cook and chill. In other words, wash with soap and water anything that comes into contact with food, including hands, utensils and cutting boards.

Then be sure to separate raw meat and seafood from produce and cooked ingredients. Temperature is very important to preparing food safely. Meat, poultry and seafood each have optimal temperatures at which they should be cooked to effectively kill pathogens.

It's also crucial to refrigerate food appropriately. This means defrosting frozen items in a microwave or refrigerator instead of on a countertop since pathogens are more likely to breed at room temperature. Never let food sit out in the open for longer than two hours.