Let’s Focus On Safe Food This April

Huron County, ON – This April includes both Easter celebrations and World Health Day awareness around food safety. The Huron County Health Unit encourages residents to focus on safe food handling practices as they prepare holiday Easter meals.

“This Easter, remember your four steps to food safety,” says Public Health Inspector Jessica Van Geffen. “Clean your hands, cook your foods to a safe internal temperature, keep ready-to-eat food separate from raw meats and keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot. Cook a hazardous food such as a whole turkey or chicken to the correct internal temperature of 82° C (180° F).”

Common safe food handling practices include:

Washing hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds before and after handling food.

Cleaning cutting boards, utensils, and countertops with warm water and dish soap; rinsing and sanitizing.

Separating raw meat, poultry and seafood from other foods in your grocery bags and in your refrigerator.

Keeping raw meat, poultry, seafood, and their juices away from food items that won’t be cooked.

Cooking food to a safe internal temperature.

Using a probe food thermometer to test whether food is thoroughly cooked.

Chilling leftovers and takeout foods within two hours.

Keeping the fridge at 4°C (40°F) or below.

World Health Day, April 7, is a worldwide awareness day created by the World Health Organization. The theme of this year’s World Health Day is “How Safe Is Your Food?” To celebrate this year’s World Health Day, and to celebrate the safe food handling practices of Huron County residents, the Health Unit is running a food safety photo contest for the month of April.

To enter, contestants must submit a photo of themselves using one or more safe food handling practices (clean, separate, cook, chill). Photos can be entered by visiting the Huron County Health Unit Facebook page or by using the hashtag #FoodSafetySelfie on Twitter or Instagram.

More information on food safety can be found on the Health Unit website, www.huronhealthunit.ca.

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