Food Safety Education Program

Consumer Information

The four basic safe food handling skills for everyone are clean, separate, cook, and chill.

Clean

Wash hands, utensils, and cutting boards before and after contact with raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs.

Separate

Keep raw meat and poultry apart from foods that won’t be cooked. Use different cutting boards for meat, poultry, seafood, and vegetables.

Cook

You can’t tell it’s done by how it looks! Use a food thermometer to be sure meat and poultry have reached a safe minimum internal temperature. USDA recommended safe minimum internal temperatures are:

• Whole poultry: 165ºF.
• Chicken breasts: 165ºF.
• Ground beef: 160ºF.
• Egg: 160ºF.
• Steaks and roasts: 145ºF.
• Fish: 145ºF.
• Pork: 160ºF.

Chill

Chill leftovers and takeout foods within 2 hours and keep the refrigerator at 40ºF or below to keep bacteria from growing.

For more consumer information, go to:

• Food Safety Publications
• Food Safety Links
• Be Food Safe
• International Food Safety Network 

For more information, contact:
David Nyachuba, Ph.D.
Program Leader for Food Safety
(413) 545-0552
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