The following food-handling tips will make being a "clean machine" easier.

Be sure to wash vegetables
before making a salad.

• Use a plastic cutting board to cut up raw poultry, meat, or fish. Wash the board with hot, soapy water after every use and before using it with another type of food.
• Never put cooked poultry, fish, or meat on the same board or in the same container that held the raw meat, unless you have washed the container well first.
• Wash fresh fruits and vegetables with water only (no soap) before eating or preparing them.
• Use only fresh foods. Spoiled foods can smell, look, and taste normal, but even a small bite could make you ill. If you're in doubt about its freshness, throw it out!
• Don't use cracked or dirty eggs. They may have been contaminated with harmful bacteria. Be sure to wash your hands, the equipment, and the countertop after working with the eggs. Avoid eating raw eggs.
• "Hot! Hot! Hot!" Keep hot foods hot. Raw eggs, fish, poultry, and meat must be cooked well to kill harmful bacteria.
• "Chill Out" If you have leftovers, put them into covered containers and refrigerate or freeze them as soon as possible.
• Keep cold foods cold. Foods that are meant to be refrigerated should be cold when you touch them. Frozen foods should be extremely cold and hard as a rock.
• Thaw foods in the refrigerator, not on the countertop.