Pittsburgh Hot Plate

Preventing Food-Borne Illness

Improperly cooked foods, poor sanitation habits and cross-contamination can all lead to Food-borne illness; something that can easily be avoided if you know how to work properly in the kitchen.

Cutting Surfaces:

Let’s talk about cutting boards.  Countless studies have been conducted to determine if wooden or plastic cutting boards attract more pathogens.  These studies concluded that either plastic or wooden boards can be used as long as they are properly maintained and sanitized.  In the restaurant industry, we use plastic; they require less maintenance, are cheap, and easy to clean.  If you’re cooking in your home, you should choose a board that best fits your personal needs. Here’s a good tip:  Buy two cutting boards; one for fresh fruits and veggies, and another for proteins.

Sanitation Bucket:

Where’s your sanitation bucket?  That’s a question I heard frequently when I first started working in restaurant kitchens.  A sanitation bucket is this:  Half a gallon of hot water plus a tablespoon of bleach.  Throw in a small towel and you have your sanitation bucket.  When you’re working with proteins, veggies, or any other types of food simply wring out the cloth, then wipe the cutting surface.

Salmonella:

Believe it or not, a large percentage of poultry contain salmonella.  Up to 40% of poultry, which includes chicken, turkey, duck, and other birds, contain this bacterial infection.  Always start to prep poultry with a clean, sanitized cutting board.  Before fabricating your bird, wash it thoroughly with cold water.  Make sure to rinse the cavity and all surrounding areas.  This simple rinse will get rid almost all of the bacteria.  If you eat out, and become sick later, contact the restaurant and let them know.  This will help the manager of the restaurant prevent further contamination.   Cooking temperatures are also critical to prevent food borne illnesses – more on that later.

Gloves:

The Health Department frowns upon restaurants that don’t require their kitchen employees to wear gloves.  If they pay you a surprise visit, and notice no gloves being used in the kitchen, you’ll most likely get written up.  Here’s the problem… it simply doesn’t work.  Workers who wear gloves are unlikely to change them on a regular basis.  They will leave the same pair of gloves on while cleaning, preparing food, and even going to the bathroom.  Gloves give a false sense of cleanliness.  If you regularly wash your hands properly, you should have no problem.

Cross Contamination:

Cross-contamination is the contamination of a food product from another source. There are three main ways cross-contamination occurs:

1. Food to Food

2. People to Food

3. Equipment to Food

Food to Food:

If stored on a top shelf, drippings from raw chicken or beef can contaminate other foods.  Picture this… You set a frozen chicken to thaw on the top shelf of your fridge, and forget about it.  Those raw juices drip onto your salad, which you then take for lunch the next day.  There’s a good chance you’ll be leaving work early with a nasty stomachache.  Similarly, if you’re prepping steak for grilled kabobs, watch out if you cut up the meat, then slice vegetables – that’s also cross-contamination.

People to Food:

We all know that handling foods after using the bathroom without washing your hands can make you sick.  But did you ever think about how often you work with raw meat, then prepping other items without washing your hands?  Just wiping your hands on an apron or towel isn’t enough to avoid people to food cross-contamination.

Equipment to Food:

Using unclean equipment such as slicers, can openers and utensils can result in food-borne illness.  Make sure your kitchen tools are continually cleaned and sanitized before use.

If you’re storing cooked food in a container make sure it’s been cleaned properly.

Remember to clean your cutting surface before starting a new project.

Cooking Temperatures:

Reaching the proper cooking temperature is essential is preventing food-borne illnesses.  Undercooked chicken, beef, pork, and seafood can make you, your guests and customers ill.  Here are some temperature cooking guidelines:

Ground products

• Hamburger — 160° F
• Beef, veal, lamb, pork — 160° F

Beef, Veal, Lamb (roasts & steaks)

• Medium-rare —- 145° F
• Medium — 160° F
• Well-done —- 170° F

Pork (chops, roasts, ribs)

• Medium — 160° F
• Well-done —- 170° F
• Ham, fresh —- 160° F
• Sausage, fresh — 160° F

Poultry

• Duck —- 180° F
• Turkey/Chicken (unstuffed) — 180° F
• Whole — 180° F
• Breast — 170° F
• Dark meat — 180° F
• Stuffing (cooked separately) — 165° F

Eggs

Fried, poached — Yolk & white are firm

• Casseroles — 160° F
• Sauces, custards — 160° F

Seafood

• Fin fish — Flesh opaque, flakes easily with fork
• Shrimp, lobster & crabs — Shells red & flesh pearly & opaque
• Clams, oysters & mussels — Shells are open

These are just a few tips for cooking in, and maintaining a clean, healthy, cooking environment.  Follow these simple rules and you can prevent food-borne illnesses.

Happy cooking in 2010!

Chef Chuck Kerber

chefchuck@pittsburghhotplate.com