Essential Food Safety Practices to Protect Your Immune System

Ever wondered if you should be washing raw chicken before cooking? What about the best ways to safely thaw frozen foods?

Let’s dig into food safety and immunity – including food safety myths – with the many ways you can safeguard your immune system each step of the way, from farm to table, or at least from shopping to savoring.

Food safety for immune health goes beyond the kitchen. 

As you’re picking up your weekly grocery haul, there are a few food safety practices you can engage in at the grocery store to keep immune support in mind.

Starting in the produce section, take a quick moment to inspect each fresh fruit and vegetable and look for any punctures, soft or dark spots, and noticeable blemishes. These spots can be cut out when you’re prepping your produce, but they can increase risk of exposure to germs.

For fresh produce, the Environmental Working Group publishes an annual shopper’s guide of the Dirty Dozen™ and Clean Fifteen™, indicating which fruits and vegetables have the highest and lowest levels of pesticide residues. These lists can help you make informed food decisions to help minimize your pesticide exposure.

At the meat and fish counters, even if your raw proteins are wrapped in paper or prepackaged, it is best to toss them in a disposable plastic bag as before adding them to your cart. This can help avoid cross-contamination with other foods in your cart and minimize leakages.

Making your way to the canned goods aisle, there are a few red flags to watch for. Unopened canned foods that have minor dents and dings in them are typically safe to consume, but if the dent is large enough to lay a finger or two across or is at the top or bottom seams, the structural integrity and seal of the can might be compromised, which can allow bacteria to enter.

Bulging or swollen cans and lids should be avoided entirely: The swollen ends indicate that there has been microbial growth like Clostridium botulinum in the food contents and these cans should be thrown away immediately. In terms of glass jars, if you are able to press down on the lid’s top, the jar has been opened or lost its seal and is another no-go.

Did you bring your reusable grocery bags? Good work! But wait, did you wash them first? Reusable and insulated grocery bags can help reduce the number of plastic bags in circulation, but these bags are often microbial minefields. Fabric-based bags can be thrown in the washing machine, while plastic-lined or insulated bags can be hand washed with soap and water, and then wiped down with a sanitizing solution after each use.

With your grocery haul in tow, the next phase of food handling and storage is important, too.

First and foremost, wash your hands. You just brought home lots of extra grocery germs and the last thing you want to do is keep spreading them around the house and onto foods you just bought.

Perishable foods should be placed into the fridge or freezer as soon as possible to maintain the cold temperatures. And there should be a method to the madness!

Store perishable foods on the refrigerator shelves based on their safe minimum cooking temperatures. For instance, raw chicken should be cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 165 °F while raw steak should be cooked to 145 °F. Because chicken should be cooked to a higher temperature than steak, raw chicken should be placed at the lower point of the refrigerator in case of packaging leaks to minimize cross-contamination. In case the raw beef leaks from above, the chicken will be cooked to a higher temperature anyway, so that alleviates the potential risk!

Now comes the prep work.

It’s 5 p.m. Kids, parents, and pets alike are getting hungry, and whether you’re ready or not, it’s time to whip up dinner. After you’ve cleaned your counter and washed your hands – yes, again! – you can pull out your ingredients.

Fresh fruits and veggies need a good rinse at the sink, even if you’re planning to remove the peel or skin. Make sure you have separate cutting boards and utensils for raw meat and fresh produce. No cross-contamination here!

Hang on a second: To wash or not to wash the raw chicken? You’ll find the answer to this common conundrum below, as we address some food safety myths.

Remember those minimum internal temperatures we already mentioned? Those recommendations are in place to kill unwanted bacteria that can lead to foodborne disease. When you’re checking internal temperatures, be sure to use a food thermometer and insert the metal probe end into the thickest part of the meat to get an accurate reading. Reference the chart below the next time you’re unsure of proper cooking temperatures.

With appetites satisfied and bellies full, the final food safety steps revolve around cleanup.

Any leftovers should be promptly placed in a sealed container and into the fridge or freezer to slow bacterial growth.

Take a quick glance at your refrigerator temperatures next time, too. Is your fridge at or below 40 °F? Is your freezer holding steady at or below 0 °F? Cleaning out the fridge on a regular basis can assure no unwanted bacteria linger and spoiled food is discarded.

Don’t forget to give your refrigerator breathing room. Overfilling the fridge and freezer prevents proper air circulation, making some areas cooler, while other areas aren’t cool enough.

As promised, let’s wrap this up by busting some common food safety myths.

Myth: Using more bleach in my sanitizing solution will kill more bacteria on food contact surfaces.

Fact: There is no advantage to using more bleach. A solution of 1 tablespoon unscented liquid chlorine bleach and 1 gallon of water is sufficient to sanitize countertops. Another note: Sanitized doesn’t mean clean! If you sanitize a dirty surface, the surface is still dirty. Always be sure to clean all surfaces with hot, soapy water before sanitizing to ensure proper food safety practices.

Myth: Freezing food kills all harmful bacteria that can cause food poisoning.

Fact: Bacteria can survive freezing temperatures. Cooking food to safe internal temperatures is the best way to kill harmful bacteria.

Myth: It’s okay to thaw my frozen foods at room temperature on the kitchen counter because I’m going to cook it right away once it’s thawed.

Fact: Foods should never be thawed at room temperature. There are three ways to safely thaw frozen foods: in the refrigerator, submerged in cold water, or in the microwave using the defrost setting. Food thawed in cold water or in the microwave should be cooked immediately.

Myth: I need to rinse the slimy film off raw chicken before cooking.

Fact: Rinsing raw chicken can actually spread harmful bacteria to the kitchen sink, counters, and onto nearby ready-to-eat foods. Don’t rinse raw chicken! The bacteria will be killed by cooking to the correct internal temperature – 165 °F for poultry.

Myth: The standing time for microwavable foods is just recommended to prevent me from burning myself.

Fact: The temperature of food can increase several degrees during the standing time, which helps the food to finish cooking, similarly to rest time for meats. Always follow package instructions for microwaveable food.