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- I will not touch or handle any prepared food with my bare hands, but will always use a clean utensil (such as a spoon, spatula, or tongs) disposable gloves, wax paper or other protective barrier between the germs on my hands and the food that goes into my customers' mouths.
- I will never place food on a cutting board unless the board has been sanitized after its last use. Cooked foods can be contaminated by germs left by raw foods on an unsanitized cutting board.
- I will get into the habit of carrying a thermometer and will learn how to use it properly.
- I will keep cold foods cold (40°F or lower) and hot foods hot (135°F or higher. Note:This is the minimum hot holding temperature in the 2005 FDA Food Code. The requirement in your area may vary.) Keeping bacteria out of the temperature danger zone will prevent them from growing rapidly.
- I will not allow prepared foods to sit at room temperature for longer than absolutely necessary.
- I will consider shell eggs to be a potentially hazardous food to be received under refrigeration and kept refrigerated until used.
- I will cook eggs thoroughly so that they are not raw or runny. I will do the same with meat and poultry.
- I will make sure that fresh fruit such as melons are washed before being cut into edible portions, because contamination from the rind can spread to the inside of the fruit during cutting.
- I will watch for illness in my staff (if I'm a supervisor). If a worker has diarrhea, I will reassign him or her to non-food handling tasks until after recovery or will send the worker home (with pay) to recuperate.
- I will wash my hands frequently, certainly after coughing or sneezing into them, going to the bathroom, handling raw foods, or doing anything else that may cause them to become contaminated with bacteria or viruses.
- The most important telephone number in my emergency contact list, besides 911, will be the health department's.
Adapted from Food Talk, Winter 2005
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