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Published on October 02, 2024

Healthy Tips Video: Food Safety

Video Transcript

Foodborne illness causes 48 million illnesses and 3,000 deaths every year in the United States. It is something that is very preventable. But everyone is at risk for foodborne illness with the most vulnerable population being infants, young children, pregnant women and their unborn babies, older adults, and those with weakened immune systems.

One of the easiest ways to help prevent foodborne illness is to use a food thermometer when cooking your food. So we want to try to avoid the danger zone, which is 40 to 140. So when using a food thermometer, you want to insert the thermometer into the thickest part of your food.

You want to avoid getting into any gristle or also any bone. And then when using it, you want to clean it with hot, soapy water in between each use to help prevent any cross-contamination. Some of the temperatures that you want to make sure that you achieve are for any raw pork, lamb, veal or beef steaks. You want to get to 145 degrees. Any ground versions of these foods should be at 160 degrees. And then any eggs should be at 160 degrees.

Shellfish and fish, we want to get to 145 degrees. And then any poultry, whether it's ground or whole, needs to be at 165 degrees. And then any casseroles, 165 degrees. So when you have your family gatherings for holidays or get-togethers, you want to maintain any hot food temperatures at around 140 degrees or higher.

And then after you put those leftovers away and you're going to reheat them, you want to reheat to at least 165 degrees. So remember, hot food stays hot. Cold food, we want to stay cold. So cold food needs to be at 40 degrees or less. And then if you're going to sit any food out at room temperature, it should not be out longer than two hours.

And then when we put those leftovers away, those can be stored for three to four days and then just making sure that we reheat to that temperature of 165 degrees. But always remember, when in doubt, throw it out.

About Owensboro Health

Owensboro Health is a nonprofit health system with a mission to heal the sick and to improve the health of the communities it serves in Kentucky and Indiana. The system includes Owensboro Health Regional Hospital, nationally recognized for design, architecture and engineering; Owensboro Health Muhlenberg Community Hospital; Owensboro Health Twin Lakes Medical Center; the Owensboro Health Medical Group comprised of over 350 providers at more than 30 locations; three outpatient Healthplex facilities, a certified medical fitness facility, the Healthpark; a weight management program, and the Mitchell Memorial Cancer Center.

On average each year, we have more than 19,000 inpatient admissions, deliver 2,000 babies and provide the region’s only Level III NICU. Owensboro Health physicians perform nearly 33,000 surgical procedures, including nearly 150 open-heart surgeries. Our physicians and staff have 90,000 Emergency Department visits and more than 1.25 million outpatient visits annually. Visit our home page for more information.