Feature Articles
Germs and Food Poisoning
Barbara Willenberg, Former Associate State Nutrition Specialist
Jo Britt-Rankin, State Nutrition Specialist
Germs need warmth, water and food to grow. Germs grow best in foods containing meat, fish, poultry, egg or milk. These are called perishable foods because they spoil easily. Germs grow very fast at room temperature. You can get food poisoning if you eat perishable foods that have been at room temperature for more than two hours.
Keep food hot or cold
The best way to keep germs from growing in perishable
food is to keep it hot or cold. The heat used to cook
food will kill most germs. But be sure to keep the food
very hot until you serve it. A "warm" oven setting is
not hot enough to keep germs from growing.
Be sure to put perishable food in the refrigerator or
freezer right away when you get home from the grocery
store. Put leftovers in the refrigerator or freezer as
soon as your meal is over. Chilling food will not kill
germs, but they will grow much slower.
Freeze leftover food quickly
If you have a large pot of hot food, separate it into
several small containers so it will get cold faster in
your refrigerator or freezer. It's okay to put hot food
into your refrigerator-it was made to chill hot food.
Germs will grow quickly in perishable food if you let it
cool on your kitchen counter.
Refrigerator temperature should be 40 degrees or lower.
Freezers should be zero degrees. If temperatures are
warmer, foods will not stay safe as long. Freezers that
are a part of the refrigerator do not get as cold as
separate freezers. For this reason food will not keep as
long as it would in a separate freezer.
This file is also available as a pdf file here.
Last Updated 10/25/2007
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