Ready-to-eat foods are exactly what they sound like: foods that are ready to eat as they are. Apples, muffins, and salads are all ready-to-eat foods because they can be eaten without any more cooking or preparation. Since ready-to-eat foods aren’t cooked, they’re more vulnerable to dangerous foodborne pathogens. If pathogens transfer to ready-to-eat food, they […]

Have you thought about how many germs are on your hands? You’d be surprised at how easily your hands become contaminated and contribute to foodborne illnesses. In fact, 9 out of 10 foodborne illness outbreaks can be traced back to contaminated hands from food workers. The best way to combat that? Proper hand washing! When […]

Cooking food at home can be a great way to save money and control what you eat. However, this means you are now in charge of making sure bacteria and viruses don’t spread on the food you will soon be eating. If you don’t cook food at the correct temperature, you can become seriously ill. […]

In 2013 and 2014, the FDA collected data on behaviors in restaurants that often lead to food safety problems. Investigators found that about 40% of all fast-food restaurants were not cleaning and sanitizing properly. And just over 60% of full-service restaurants also had problems with cleaning and sanitizing. That means about half of all restaurants that […]

Washing your hands regularly can feel like a chore sometimes — but it’s always worth the extra 20 seconds of your time. Handwashing helps keep you and the people around you healthy Handwashing helps keep you healthy by cleaning your hands of germs. Good hand hygiene plays a major part in protecting you from getting […]

Have you ever thought about what happens when cucumbers are turned into pickles? Or what ingredients are added to cured meat to keep them safer for a longer amount of time? Because these kinds of processing techniques need to be done correctly to prevent any foodborne illness, you must create a Hazard Analysis Critical Control […]

As kids, many of us became painfully aware of how improperly storing frozen foods, like our favorite popsicles, can cause the frozen delight to become a messy, sticky puddle. Although temperature abuse problems aren’t always as obvious as a puddle of popsicles, correctly receiving a food delivery is one of the most crucial parts of […]

Managing inventory for a food establishment can be a tricky job. On one hand, no business wants to serve customers expired goods that can make them sick. However, food waste can cause stores to lose out on valuable profits. So where is the line? When can you hold on to food, and when should you […]

You may have heard how cross-contamination can happen during food preparation. But did you know that it’s also a danger to food in storage? How cross-contamination works Cross contamination occurs when germs from one food item spread to another food item. This could happen directly, like if a piece of raw meat drips on or […]