Food Safety

As a producer of beef, I have my own concerns about food safety.  I am mostly concerned that many of us are uninformed about properly cleaning, storing and cooking our food.  Early this year I wrote a blog this is not a cooking blog. The blog has a great link to USDA's information on meat temperatures, freezer and refrigerator temperatures. I usually find myself wanting this information after a power outage.


 Last Tuesday I participated in another outstanding Ag. Chat on twitter, it perhaps was one of my favorites.  I was able to "chat" with a girl from the  Food Insight .  She was very educationally friendly.  In case you are wondering what educationally friendly is, I would describe it as being able to have a conversation with people about a topic they think they already know about, but really don't have a clue and them leave feeling informed but not dumb.  She did an excellent job!

I would like to pass the single best piece of information on to you that I learned. Don't wash your bag lettuce.  She said it has already been washed and by washing it again, you really just take the chance of contaminating it again. Do you wash your bag lettuce?

Fight Bacteria is another website that gives great resources and information on keeping your food and family safe.

We should remember that microorganisms grow between 40-140 degrees. This is why you should cook your hamburgers to an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Do you use a meat thermometer?