Food Storage Safety Guidelines

Prevent Food Poisoning to Keep You and Your Family Safe

At Edgar Snyder & Associates, we've been helping accident victims for over 35 years – including food poisoning victims. We've found that educating people about food safety is a key factor in preventing foodborne illnesses, trips to the hospital, and even deaths.

Storing raw and cooked meat, produce, and other foods safely is a way to combat food poisoning risks and help keep your family safe. Learn more about each by clicking on the links below:

• Fruits, veggies, and produce
• Meat, poultry, and fish
• Nuts and other food items

Fruits, Veggies, and Produce

Storing fresh produce can affect both quality and safety. If your produce is not stored properly, not only will your food go bad sooner, but it could also put you at risk for foodborne illness.

• Store perishable fruits and vegetables, such as strawberries, lettuce, herbs, and mushrooms, in a clean refrigerator at a temperature of 40^oF or below.
• Refrigerate pre-cut or peeled produce as soon as possible.
• Wash produce items well to clean off bacteria, viruses, and chemicals prior to eating them.
• If an item is marked pre-washed, you do not have do any further washing. However, if you do, make sure you use safe-handling practices to avoid cross contamination (i.e. don't use a sponge or cloth that could have bacteria on it from another food source)

Meat, Poultry, and Fish

Don't automatically assume that product dates are a good guide for consuming food safely. Follow these tips and consult the chart below to prevent your food from spoiling or becoming dangerous.

• Refrigerate meat, poultry, eggs, and seafood within 2 hours of cooking or purchasing. However, if the temperature outside is above 90^oF, refrigerate them within 1 hour.
• Place raw meat and poultry in individual bags to prevent meat from contaminating other foods.
• Use a thermometer to ensure that your refrigerator is between 35^o-40^oF and the freezer is at 0^o F or below. These temperatures help prevent the growth of bacteria and keep your meats, poultry, and fish from spoiling.
• Cook or freeze fresh poultry, fish, ground meats, and variety meats within 2 days of purchase. Cook or freeze beef, veal, lamb, or pork within 3 to 5 days.
• Place your meats as low as possible in the fridge to avoid having meat juices drip down and contaminate other foods.
• Freezing doesn't destroy harmful bacteria; it only inactivates the ones present in food. Once the food is thawed, bacteria can become active again and begin to multiply to levels that can lead to food poisoning. Make sure you cook food thoroughly to kill harmful bacteria or viruses.

Nuts and Other Food Items

There are plenty of other foods besides fruits, vegetables, meats, and poultry that you need to store properly to prevent contamination. Follow these tips and consult the chart below for safe food storage:

• Store eggs in their original carton – not in a refrigerator door where temperatures tend to be warmer than the recommended 40^oF.
• Keep milk, milk products, and yogurt refrigerated at all times.
• Store nuts in a moisture-proof and airtight jar, or wrapped tightly in a heavy plastic bag.
• Refrigerate solid cheese in its original wrap until opened. After opening, rewrap the cheese tightly in a moisture proof wrap, such as foil or an airtight container.
• Cover opened butter or margarine when in the refrigerator. Before freezing butter, wrap each package tightly in foil or plastic.

Did You Become a Victim of Food Poisoning?

Sometimes safety precautions can't prevent all risks of food poisoning – especially when there is a recall or foodborne illness outbreak. If you, or someone you love, end up in the hospital from food poisoning, you may have a case.

Questions? Need to know your legal rights? Call 412-668-5480, or fill out the form at the top right of this webpage for a no obligation, free legal consultation. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Our phones answer 24/7, so contact us any day, any time.

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