Food Safety Quiz

A kitchen is a great place to have fun and make stuff with your kids.  It is also a great place to create bacteria breeding grounds.  So lets test your knowledge on food safety to see if you are keeping your family safe in the kitchen.

1. The best way to avoid food poisoning is to
1. Use bacterial soaps
2. Buy only organic food
3. Wash your hands with plain soap and water before and after handling food
4. Eat only at home, not at restaurants.
2. Cooked foods should be refrigerated within
1. 30 minutes
2. 2 hours
3. 3 hours
4. 4 hours
3. Which are potential sources of foodborne illness?
1. Raw eggs, poultry, beef, seafood
2. Unwashed produce
3. Raw sprouts
4. Unpasteurized milk, apple juice and apple cider.
4. Which cutting board is safer?
1. Plastic
2. Wood
5. If you get sick from eating an egg salad sandwich left out too long, the most likely culprit is the
1. Bread
2. Eggs
3. Mayonnaise
4. Relish
6. True or False: Hard cheese with some surface mold does not need to be tossed.
7. True or False: Raw meats can be marinated at room temperature, because the marinade kills bacteria
8. True or False: It's safe to refreeze thawed or partially thawed foods.
9. True or False: Packaged salad greens labeled "prewashed" or "triple washed" don't need further washing.
10. True or False: The "sniff" test is a reliable way to tell if food is tainted with bacteria.

Answers

1. (3) Frequent and thorough handwashing is the No. 1 infection fighter. Plain soap will do - antibacterial products are not more effective and may contribute to drug-resistant bacteria. More people get food poisoning at home; restaurant meals are just reported more.
2. (2) 2 hours. If the weather is hot, reduce it to one hour. Remember to count the time it takes you to eat.
3. (All) It's not just animal foods that can harbor microbes. Besides cooking meat to proper temperature and eggs until not runny, wash all produce (including organic, which is also susceptible to microbes) with plain water.
4. Either is fine, as long as you scrub it with soap and water after cutting raw meat, poultry or fish on it. One advantage of plastic is that you can put it in the dishwasher. You may want to have different boards for raw meats and produce. Replace boards that have deep grooves or cracks.
5. (2) Bacteria thrive on high-protein foods such as eggs, tuna and chicken - not in store-bought mayo. Homemade mayonnaise, made from raw eggs (and no preservatives), however, can cause salmonella poisoning.
6. True. Just cut off at least an inch beyond the mold. The same goes for hard fruits and vegetables, such as apples and potatoes. Soft fruits and cheeses with mold, however, should be discarded.
7. False. Marinate all meat, poultry and seafood in the refrigerator. Do not add leftover marinade to the cooked meat unless you boil it first. Transfer the cooked meat to a clean platter, not back to the dish that held the raw meat.
8. True, as long as the food still has ice crystals or is below 4°C (40°F). Refreezing may, however, affect the food's flavour and texture.
9. True. Greens and other vegetables washed at the processing plant and labeled as such are probably cleaner than home-washed greens can ever be (but you pay extra for the convenience). Other greens, not labeled as having been washed should be thoroughly washed.
10. False. You usually can't smell or taste the microbes that cause food poisoning. Still, if food does smell bad, throw it out.

So How Did You Do? 


Here are two clips of a colleague of mine who spoke on "Keeping the Kitchen Clean & Safe"

Part One

Part Two

What are some ways you keep your kitchen safe for your kids?