Food Storage and Food Safety

Food Safety and Preventing Food Poisoning

Food poisoning is common, as the CDC estimates that there are about 76 million cases of food poisoning in the United States each year. Although most of these cases are mild, about 325,000 people with food poisoning are hospitalized and 5,000 die each year.

Since young children are among those most at risk for getting serious and even life-threatening cases of food poisoning, it is important for parents to learn how to prevent food poisoning.

Although the media publicizes the cases of food poisoning that are caused by the high profile contaminated peanut butter and pepper Salmonella outbreaks, know that it is probably more common to get food poisoning from foods that are improperly cleaned, prepared, and stored in your own home.

Safe Food Storage

So food doesn't go bad, store it in the right place and under the proper conditions, and don't exceed the storage limit or the food's expiration date.

To get started, it can help to:

• set the temperature of your refrigerator to about 35 to 40 F and don't allow it to get above 40 F
• set the temperature of your freezer to 0 F or below
• clean out your refrigerator so that it isn't overcrowded and so cold air can circulate around stored foods
• choose foods that aren't close to their expiration date when you are grocery shopping
• rotate older foods in your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer, to the front when you buy new foods so that you remember to use the older foods before they expire
• regularly check expiration dates on foods in your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer and throw out ones that are expired.
• refrigerate prepared foods and leftovers within 2 hours and within 1 hour if the temperature is above 90 F
• store foods in their own small, separate plastic or glass containers or zippered plastic bags, instead of grouping different foods into larger containers which may not cool as quickly
• regularly check foods for signs that they may be spoiled, including mold or a bad smell
• keep foods covered with plastic wrap or aluminum foil
• throw away any canned foods that have damage, including denting, swelling (a sign of botulism contamination), or leakage

Food Storage Guidelines

It is relatively easy to store and know when to throw out food with expiration dates. It gets harder to know what to do with leftover cooked foods.

How long can you keep last night's dinner in the refrigerator before it goes bad?

In general, eat leftovers as soon as possible. These food storage guidelines should be help, including that you only store (in the refrigerator):

• ground beef for 1 to 2 days
• steaks and roasts for 3 to 5 days
• pork chops for 3 to 5 days
• lunch meats for 3 to 5 days
• fish for 1 to 2 days
• chicken for 1 to 2 days, although fried chicken may be fine for 3 to 4 days
• pizza for 3 to 4 days
• milk for 7 days, although you shouldn't use milk that is more than 2 or 3 days past its 'sell by' date
• an opened package of hot dogs for 1 week

Most importantly, if you are unsure if a food has been stored safely and is still good, throw it away and don't serve it to your kids. It is not worth a bout of food poisoning just because your kids want the leftover pizza that has been in the refrigerator for a week.

Remember that just because a food doesn't look or smell bad, doesn't mean that it can't have enough bacteria on it to make you sick. It may have been stored improperly, be past its usual 'shelf life,' or be past its expiration date.

Safety Tips for Open Water Swimming

10 essential guidelines

1. Practice in a Pool - Obviously, it’s best to learn how to swim in the relative calm of your local pool. That’s a good place to start learning three key open water swimming skills: sighting, bilateral breathing, and a “choppy-water” freestyle.
2. Don’t Go Alone - Let’s start with the obvious: Never swim in open water by yourself. Having a fellow swimmer is one way to fulfill this most-basic safety measure, but they will be of little help if you encounter an unexpected current or creature of the deep
3. Know Your Currents - Swiftly moving water can pull you astray, potentially miles off-shore, off-target, or even underwater. In many popular open water swim locations, currents are infamous for their strength and speed. In other places, you may need to do some asking around to find out about water conditions, which can change hourly.
4. Check the Water Temperature - Most pools are between 79 and 85 degrees. Most bodies of water are not that warm. Water that is 70 degrees Fahrenheit doesn’t sound that cold (heck, your thermostat is set at 68), but it really is.
5. Check the Weather - Many other weather factors can affect conditions in the water. Wind can create “chop,” or surface waves. Stormwater runoff can alter temperature and water clarity.
6. Know Your Sea Creatures - Find out what creatures you are likely (or even unlikely) to encounter on your swim. Research if the bay is home to any sharks (some sharks are completely harmless to humans), jellyfish, or nettles.
7. Have a "Plan A" - Figure out where you are planning to go on your swim. Is it point-to-point or an out-and-back adventure? How long? Whatever your answer, have a plan and know the route. Most importantly, familiarize yourself not only with water conditions, but also with the shoreline.
8. Have a "Plan B" - Before you set off swimming, have a plan for exiting the water if conditions (or you) deteriorate. Expect that unexpected things may happen.  No matter what happens, your plan B will help keep you safe.
9. Check In with the Lifeguard - At some open water swimming areas, local jurisdictions have lifeguards on duty. Tell the lifeguards what you are doing. Not only might they be able to come to your rescue if you get caught in a current, but you’ll also ensure that they won’t come racing out to “save” you when they see you swimming somewhere they wouldn’t expect you to be.
10. Keep It Simple - Even if you are feeling unafraid of the unpredictability of open water, take it easy on your first swim. Gain experience with some easy swims (back-and-forth along a lifeguarded beach, for example), so that when you encounter your first open-water problem/challenge, the stakes aren’t life-threateningly high.

Open water swimming can be safe and enjoyable if you follow these simple tips.