Food Safety Produce, Dairy and Cooked Foods

Food safety should be a major concern for pregnant women, children, elderly and any party. You don't want your food to start reeking of awful odor, you don't need 'your party' to be remembered for what went wrong.

Produce

Sanitization

Use a three step method to sanitize all your produce. For this you will need to buy Hydrogen Peroxide (It is available at any drug store) and two spray bottles. In one spray bottle put 3% Hydrogen peroxide, fill the second bottle with vinegar solution (1 quart water to 2 Tablespoon of white vinegar. Put your produce in a colander under cold water tap in the kitchen sink.

Step 1: Thoroughly wash and rinse to remove all dirt.
Step 2: Spray with vinegar solution. Make sure every part is covered. Let it stay for five minutes. Wash and rinse.
Step 3: Spray with peroxide spray bottle. This will cause oxidation and killing more bacteria. Let it stay for five minutes. Wash and rinse produce thoroughly.
If you wish you may repeat the steps.

Storing

Even if you are using fruits such as Cantaloupes, sanitize fruits, remove the skin, make your fruit dessert. After the dessert is ready, store the fruits in the refrigerator where the temperature is below 41º F.

Dairy Products

Dairy products such as Thandaii, Raita, Rasmalai should be stored at 41 ºF. They may be kept at 46ºF for four hours (Holding time) for serving guests.

Cooked Foods and Curies

Cooling

Food born microorganisms grow rapidly between 41ºF and 135ºF. The restaurants and caterers are required to cool their foods 'rapidly'. The foods must be cooled down from 135ºF to 70ºF within two hour and then from 70ºF to 41ºF degrees within four hours. The microorganisms grow at a faster between 135ºF and 70ºF. The restaurants immerse the pots of hot food in sinks containing water and ice near 32ºF. This iced water is called ice-bath. The temperature drops at an average rate of 34ºF per hour reaching the target 41º F in less than four hours. In daily home-cooking, the amount of food cooked is relatively small and the temperature comes down normally on its own; if the worst happens and the food starts to reek, you just throw it away. You should adhere to cooling guidelines for large quantity of foods.

Reheating

If the food has come down below 135ºF, it must be re-heated to 160ºF to kill the microorganisms again.

Holding temperature

The holding temperature for food service is 140ºF for four hours.

Recommendation

I advise that as soon as the curries are cooked, put them on the stovetop burners or in the oven. Stir them and check temperature so it does not fall below 135ºF. Don't let them cool down below 135ºF. If they do, then reheat them immediately to 160 ºF.