Kids in the Kitchen: The Recipe for Safe Food Handling at Home

As a parent, you’re concerned about providing pleasurable and nutritious meals for your family. Your home is the most important place where your children can learn to prepare and enjoy a variety of healthful foods. Cooking and eating meals together as a family is fun, especially when you know food preparation basics. These basic skills also include how to handle food safely.

No matter if you are cooking a traditional family favorite from scratch, re-heating leftovers or packing a brown bag lunch, handling food safely is essential. With more family members helping in the kitchen, everyone needs to be well versed in the basic ingredients of safe food handling. Our food supply in the United States is one of the safest in the world. However, it is up to us to do our part.

Luckily, most food-related illnesses can be prevented if you follow a few simple rules for careful food shopping, preparation and storage. Teach your children the simple rules listed below right along with basic cooking techniques. Be a positive role model when you shop for and prepare food. Know that the shopping, cooking and food handling skills your children are learning will equip them to prepare and share tasty, healthful and safe food for years to come.

To keep your food safe and fresh, practice these basic rules when you and your family shop, prepare and store foods:

• Shop with Care
• Keep Food Clean
• Keep Hot Foods Hot 
• Cold Foods Cold
• When In Doubt, Throw It Out

Kids in the Supermarket

Shop with Care
Safe food handling begins in the supermarket. Children learn best by doing, so get them involved in your next grocery-shopping trip. Younger children can squeeze a frozen food item to make sure it is rock solid while older children can read the “use by” dates on food labels. Follow these tips to shop with care:

• Make grocery shopping the last errand you run before going home if you plan to buy perishable food.
• Read the "sell by" date (how long the grocery store can keep the product for sale on the shelf) and the "use by" date (how long you can keep the product at top eating quality in your home). Never buy anything you won’t finish before the “use by” date.
• Check eggs for cracks.
• Avoid dented or bulging cans and jars with loose lids or any other packages that appear to have been opened or tampered with in some way.
• Look over produce to be sure it is free of any blemishes or signs of spoilage like mold.

Kids in the Kitchen

Keep Food Clean
To keep your food as safe as possible, keep everything in your kitchen meticulously clean, and that starts with you. Wash your hands thoroughly with hot water and soap before, during and after food preparation. A good amount of time to scrub is 20 seconds, (which feels like a long time). Place a step stool near the sink to make it easy for younger children to wash their hands too. Follow these tips to keep the food prepared in your kitchen safe and clean:

• Clean counters, cutting boards, knives and utensils between food preparation steps to prevent cross-contamination of food. Or, designate one cutting board for meats and seafood and another for produce.
• Wash fresh fruits and vegetables thoroughly. This includes any pre-packaged produce items like salad greens. Use a clean brush to scrub fruits and vegetables such as cantaloupe or sweet potatoes.
• Wash the lids of canned foods before opening to keep dirt from getting into the food. Remember to also wash your can opener after each use.
• Sanitize kitchen sponges by tossing them into the automatic dishwasher or microwaving on high for 30 to 60 seconds to kill bacteria. Replace sponges every few weeks. Launder dishcloths, if used, daily.
• Wipe up spills promptly with paper towels and then throw the paper towels out.
• Direct sneezes and coughs away from food; wash your hands after sneezing or coughing and encourage your children to do the same.

Keep Food Hot
Meats, poultry, eggs, fish and seafood require special care in the kitchen because they are susceptible to illness-causing bacteria. While cooking with your children, talk about these tips for handling meats, poultry and seafood:

• Keep your refrigerator at 40°F or below and the freezer unit at 0°F. In general, keep your refrigerator as cold as possible without freezing your milk or lettuce.
• Label wrapped leftovers with the current date. Eat or freeze within two or three days.
• Cook meats, poultry, eggs and seafood thoroughly. Most meats should be cooked to at least 165°F and poultry to 180°F. Teach your children to check doneness with a meat thermometer.
• Don’t interrupt cooking. Cook foods completely at one time. Partial cooking may allow bacteria to grow.
• After cooking, refrigerate leftovers immediately. Divide into shallow containers for faster cooling in the refrigerator.
• Thoroughly reheat all leftovers until bubbly hot and steaming.

Keep Food Cold
Safe food handling practices do not stop once food is put away. Food needs to be stored safely, at the right temperature and not past their “use by” date. Younger children can help clean out the refrigerator and older children can practice taking the temperature readings of the refrigerator and freezer. Follow these safe food storage tips:

• Keep your refrigerator at 40°F or below and the freezer unit at 0°F. In general, keep your refrigerator as cold as possible without freezing your milk or lettuce.
• Label wrapped leftovers with the current date. Eat or freeze within two or three days.
• Pick one day each week to clean out your refrigerator. Throw out old or questionable food and wash down the interior walls and the handles of your refrigerator with warm soapy water.
• Never leave highly perishable foods out of the refrigerator for more than two hours (or one hour in warmer weather). Milk should be returned to the refrigerator immediately after it is poured. Milk in individual containers at a picnic or buffet should be stored on ice.
• Never defrost (or marinate) food on the kitchen counter. Thaw food in the refrigerator or in the microwave oven on the defrost setting. Cook defrosted food right away.

When In Doubt, Throw It Out
Teach your children to play it safe and throw out any foods they may think are unsafe. Keep in mind that most bacteria that cause food-related illness are tasteless, colorless and odorless.

Food Handling Tips for the Very Young
Discourage practices that can spread germs. This includes licking the spout on the syrup bottle, double-dipping chips, eating from forks that have dropped onto the floor, and wiping hands or faces with the same towel used to clean spills.

• Avoid tasting foods that have not been thoroughly cooked, including old favorites like cookie dough or cake batter made with raw eggs.

The Food and Drug Administration is an excellent source for information on safe food handling.