Here Are Tips To Help You Prevent Food Poisoning

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Foods to Watch
Raw foods from animals are the most likely sources of contamination. Be mindful when handling and preparing:

Meat and poultry: Avoid eating raw or spoiled meat.

Be careful that you don't let juices or drippings from raw meat and poultry -- or for that matter shellfish and eggs -- touch other foods you plan to serve or eat.

Shellfish and raw fish : Carefully pick out and cook fish and shellfish to ensure quality and freshness.

Eggs and dairy: You’ll want to be sure that your family is safe when enjoying eggs and dairy products. Some tips:

• Don’t drink unpasteurized milk. Pasteurized foods are heated before being sold to kill bacteria.
• Avoid soft cheeses such as feta, brie, camembert, blue-veined, and Mexican-style cheese -- or other unpasteurized cheeses. Hard cheeses, processed cheeses, cream cheese, and cottage cheese are safe.
• Check the expiration dates on eggs before purchasing and again before preparing.

Vegetables: These can also be the source of food poisoning , particularly sprouts of all kinds (alfalfa, mung, clover, and radish). This is because sprouting requires warmer temperatures, which are ideal for bacterial growth. Avoid raw sprouts if you are pregnant or have a weakened immune system .

A couple of other food-related tips:

• Don’t set out eggs, meats, poultry, seafood, or milk at room temperature for long. Refrigerate leftovers right after you eat.
• Drink only pasteurized juice or cider.

Cleaning and Cooking
The first rule of safe cooking is to wash your hands frequently. But there are plenty of other things to clean.

Wash cutting boards and knives with antibacterial soap and warm to hot water after handling raw meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs. Wooden cutting boards are not recommended, because they can be harder to clean.