Safe Recipe Activity for Middle School Students
How did you do on the quiz? Don’t worry if you only got a few questions right. At the very end of the activity you’ll have a chance to take the quiz again and improve your score!
At the start of the safe recipe activity we learned that there is a tool called the Safe Recipe Style Guide that helps you turn basic recipes into safe recipes by adding food safety steps. The guide is separated into four behaviors that help improve food safety at home and prevent food poisoning: temperature, handwashing, avoiding cross-contamination, and safe handling of produce.
To learn more about these four areas of food safety try answering the 4 questions below. Then, click on the answer box to check your response and learn more.
Harmful germs in food are killed when food reaches a certain temperature. This temperature, called the safe minimum internal temperature, is different for each food.
To check the internal temperature of a food measure with a food thermometer in the middle of the food. Food thermometers are sold at most grocery stores.
Wash your hands with soap and water before you begin any food preparation or cooking. You should also wash your hands any time you touch raw meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs. Washing your hands keeps you from spreading germs!
Cross-contamination is how germs spread from one food or surface to another. Harmful germs in the juices of raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs can touch food that is ready to eat and make you sick.
You should wash cutting boards, knives, plates, and other items after touching these raw foods to prevent spreading germs. Also, do not rinse meat and poultry! This is not a safety step and can spread germs to your sink and other kitchen spaces.
Rinsing fruits and vegetables helps remove germs from the outside. You should wash all produce, even if it has a peel, skin, or rind that is removed before eating.
You should rinse the produce under cold running water. If it has a thick skin, like cucumber, potatoes, or melon, scrub it with a vegetable brush while rinsing under running water.
