7 Mistakes Even Safe Cooks Make

Think restaurants are scary? Turns out you're also at risk in your very own kitchen.

By Anna Roufous, Prevention

Most people worry about food poisoning except when they're doing the cooking. But
here's a shocker: Nearly 25% of victims of foodborne illness get it from a home-cooked
meal, according to the CDC. "Research proves that people are not as careful handling
food as they need to be," says Janet B. Anderson, RD, a clinical professor of nutrition and
food sciences at Utah State University. "Many of them believe they're doing a good job,
but when we actually study their behavior, they're not."

Find out where you might be tripping up and how easily you can make changes that will
keep your family safe.

1. You wash your hands before cooking

Yes, it's a good first step but research shows you need to wash several times while
cooking to stay safe. Try to wash up every time you switch to a new component of the
meal say, when moving from meat to veggies to spices. Most "violations" occur when
you go back and forth between meat (or poultry, egg, or seafood) and ready-to-eat foods
such as salad fixings without washing hands in between, suggests a recent food-safety
study led by Anderson.

Stay extra safe: Don't wash up on autopilot. Count to 20 while rubbing hands under
water. And use soap—rinsing alone won't get rid of bacteria.

2. You wash produce as soon as you get home from the market

It's nice to have fresh herbs and veggies cleaned and ready for you to begin cooking. But
if you wash produce before you stash it in the fridge, mold and other microbes can grow
in moisture left behind, says Linda J. Harris, PhD, associate director of research at the
Western Institute for Food Safety and Security at the University of California, Davis.
Instead, clean produce right before you prepare it.

Stay extra safe: Discard the outer layer of lettuce and cabbage, where contamination is
most likely to occur. Then rinse the rest of the head (skip the soap, which could leave a
residue that you don't want to eat).

3. You rinse only fruit with edible skin

Surprise: Fruits with inedible peels or rinds, such as bananas and melons, can be as risky
as those you eat whole because bacteria on the surface can be transported inside by a
knife when you slice through it. Rinse while using a scrub brush to remove dirt, debris,
and germs; toss the brush into the dishwasher afterward.
Stay extra safe: Cut stems from tomatoes, strawberries, and peppers after washing so
bacteria can't seep inside.

4. You clean as you cook

Good move, unless you're too free with your dish towel chopping a potato, wiping the
cutting board, then using the towel to clean your serving bowls, too, where it could
spread germs that can make you sick. Use dish towels only to dry clean hands, and rely
on paper towels and an antimicrobial disinfectant to wipe down countertops and cutting
boards.

Stay extra safe: You'd never put raw meat, which can be loaded with bacteria, directly
on the counter. So don't set unwashed produce down there, either put it on a dish or
cutting board you can wash later.

5. You leave meals warming on the stove top or in the oven

Bacteria can thrive when food is anywhere from 41°F to 135°F, a surprisingly large
range. So setting aside a meal say, in a still-warm oven or on the stove top for a family
member to eat later may allow it to spoil. "Even foods that seem harmless, like rice or
pasta, could become dangerous," warns Mary Weaver, technical manager of retail food
safety for NSF International, a nonprofit public health organization in Ann Arbor, MI.
And don't think reheating a dish that's been sitting out will make it safe: Some toxins that
can form when food is left out too long are resistant to heat. A good rule of thumb: If
your loved one will be more than 2 hours late, stick the dish in the fridge until it's ready
to be warmed up.

Stay extra safe: Store hot leftovers in small, shallow containers; that allows food to cool
more quickly. Don't stack too many containers together a tightly packed refrigerator
doesn't cool as efficiently, allowing bacteria to grow.

6. You set your fridge temp to "cold"

You'd think that would be cool enough to slow the growth of bacteria. But because built-
in control dials don't tell you what the actual temperature is, you can't be sure you're
keeping food between 35°F and 40°F, which is where it needs to be to do the job, says
Patricia Kendall, PhD, RD, a professor of food science and nutrition at Colorado State
University. To compensate, buy a thermometer that attaches to the inside wall or sits on a
shelf and check it once a month.

Stay extra safe: Buy a thermometer for the freezer, too. It should read 0°F, the
temperature at which food freezes solid.
7. You cook burgers until the pink is gone

Think that if a burger looks well-done, it must be germ free? Kansas State University
research shows the eyeball method doesn't work—a meat thermometer is the only way to
tell if it's been cooked to a safe 160°F. Thawed meat can turn a little brown, so it might
look done before it really is, while some lean burgers might still look pink when they hit
160°F. To check a burger's doneness, insert the thermometer into the center of the meat,
and chow down only if the reading is 160°F or higher.

Stay extra safe: If the burger's not hot enough and you have to cook it longer, be sure to
wash the thermometer before you test the meat again to avoid cross contamination.