Recently, our food safety scientists received a question about what types of food need to be kept cold. You may already know that it’s important to refrigerate certain foods to help prevent pathogen growth. But how do you know what does and doesn’t need to go in the fridge? Here are a few guidelines that […]
Category: Food Safety Articles
Ask a Food Safety Scientist: How Do You Test for Hazards in Food?
Recently, our food safety scientists received the following question: What is the best guidance to assess microbial testing on varying food products to ensure food safety and quality? Each year, 600 million people around the world are sickened by contaminated food. To combat foodborne illness, the FDA sets standards for the food supply in the […]
ASL Food Handler Course Helps Deaf and Hard of Hearing People Get Their Food Handler Card
Typically, if you are deaf or hard of hearing and want to get your food handlers card online, you have one option: turning on the subtitles. But for StateFoodSafety, subtitles weren’t good enough. In 2012, we decided we could do more to make working in the foodservice industry easier for people in the deaf community. […]
Ask a Food Safety Scientist: What is Clostridium botulinum?
Have you heard of this intimidating bacteria? Most people have heard of the disease it can cause—botulism. Clostridium botulinum is an anaerobic bacteria, meaning that it thrives best in an oxygen-deprived environment. In addition to this, the bacteria can produce spores, which can survive until the conditions are ideal for bacterial growth. The bacteria produce […]
5 Common Foodborne Illness Questions
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 48 million people get sick each year from foodborne illnesses. When you become sick from a foodborne illness, you may not be sure what you should do. We’ve answered some of the most common questions about foodborne illness to help you know how to handle it when it […]
5 Risk Factors That Cause Most Foodborne Illnesses
If you’ve never had the “stomach bug,” chances are you’ve known somebody who has. Stomach pains and never-ending trips to the bathroom are a few of the tell-tale signs that can indicate that you’ve eaten contaminated food. Every year, 48 million Americans become sick from foodborne illness. How is this possible? There are 5 major […]
5 Ways to Prevent Foodborne Illness Outbreaks
According to a report by the CDC, 48 million people in the United States get sick from foodborne illness each year. Many of these cases can be prevented if simple food safety practices are used. Follow these 5 principles to help prevent foodborne illness: 1. Wash Your Hands One of the most important personal hygiene […]
Food Packaging Dates and What They Mean
It can be difficult to decipher what the array of numbers, letters, and symbols mean on food packaging. Use-by dates and best-by dates are on nearly every food item we buy, so it’s important we understand them. Let’s look at what they mean, why they are printed, and how to use them to ensure food […]
How to Prevent Allergic Reactions
How Can I Prevent Allergic Reactions? When preparing a meal, cutting chicken on the same cutting board that you used to chop up shrimp doesn’t seem like a big deal. But to someone with a shellfish allergy, that act alone could be life threatening. One simple mistake could easily give a customer an allergic reaction. Attention […]
Is it okay to refreeze food?
We have all had meals that began with good intentions. You pull chicken out of the freezer and put it in the fridge to thaw with plans to cook it that night. Maybe you forgot to pick your child up from soccer practice, or things began piling up at work. Whatever it be, your chicken […]