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Food Safety
Food Safety |
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Food Safety in
a Child Care Setting: Self-Learning Module
Module: Safety Unit: Food Safety in a Child Care Setting Unit Overview: This unit on Food Safety is a
self-paced, self-administered learning module designed to educate and train
child care employees in the safe handling, preparation and storage of food
served in the child care setting.
Learning Objectives Following completion of the Food Safety in a Child Care Setting unit, the child care employee will be able to meet the following program objectives:
Contents
IntroductionFood safety is very important in the child care setting. Food-related illnesses and accidents are quite common and can be fatal for children. Child care providers have an obligation to provide safe food in a safe environment for the children in their care. Dangers for children during food preparation and consumption include:
The National Health and Safety Standards for Child Care Centers — Guidelines For Out-Of-Home Child Care Programs, Chapter 4, clearly details the standards and rationale for food safety in the child care setting. The focus of many of those standards is the prevention of food-borne illnesses. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 76 million Americans experience food poisoning each year. The staff and children at child care centers are at high risk for acquiring food-borne illnesses for two reasons:
This unit is a synopsis of some of the key standards for food safety along with other information for child care providers who prepare food for children. Review these food guidelines to learn more about food safety and how to avoid food-borne illnesses in the child care setting.
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 | When buying packaged meat, fish or poultry, check the expiration date on
the label. Do not buy outdated meat, fish or poultry products.
| Don’t buy ground beef that is brown.
| Purchase meat only from government-inspected sources.
| Don’t buy pre-stuffed turkeys or chicken.
| Use the following guidelines for selecting fresh fish:
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Buy fish just before returning to the child care center. If the child care
center is an hour or more away, store fish in a cooler with ice for the ride
home.
| Be sure that grocers wrap meat, fish, poultry and seafood separately and
place them in plastic bags so the juices do not drip on other foods in the
grocery bag and contaminate them.
| Have the bagger put fish, meat, or poultry (already in it’s own plastic
bag) on top of frozen or cold foods to keep them cold during transport. | |
Dairy
| Select eggs that are marked Grade A or AA and are not cracked.
| If you plan to make eggnog, mousse, hollandaise sauce or other foods that
require raw egg, purchase a pasteurized egg liquid that you can find in the
dairy case and substitute it for raw egg in your recipe. Never feed the
children raw egg or products that contain raw egg.
| Select only pasteurized and Grade A dairy products.
| Select hard cheese that is marked “aged 60 days” or more. | |
Fruit
| Don’t buy fruit with broken skin. |
State public health codes and national standards describe specific requirements for kitchens in child care centers. Some key standards are:
| Food preparation areas are to be separated from eating, play, bathroom and
animal areas.
| A door or gate should separate the kitchen from other areas.
| The kitchen should not be used as a passageway while food is being
prepared.
| Infants and toddlers should be restricted from the kitchen.
| Children under school age should be restricted from the area where hot
foods are prepared.
| Kitchen surfaces should be in good repair and easily sanitized.
| Kitchen equipment should be in good repair and easily sanitized.
| The sink used for food preparation should not be used for hand washing.
| A defined amount of space or a splashguard should be between the hand
washing sink and the area where food is prepared. (See standards for the
exact measurements.)
| Refrigerators should be maintained at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or less and
freezers at 0 degrees Fahrenheit or less for safe food storage.
| Thermometers should be available for all refrigerators, freezers, ovens
and areas for handling cold and hot food.
| Dishes should be in good shape without chips.
| Paper and plastic products should be used only once and discarded.
Styrofoam products should not be used because children can choke on pieces
of styrofoam. | |
The staff that prepares food in a child care center must have a good understanding of food safety and must use a meticulous hand washing technique when preparing foods. Standards relative to kitchen staff include:
| Any person who has a food-borne illness, diarrhea, vomiting, a bacterial
or viral infection or sores on the hands that cannot be covered by nonporous
latex gloves should not prepare food.
| Staff members who prepare food should not change diapers or toilet the
children. In a small setting or if this is not possible, they must
meticulously wash their hands between any activity with the children
(especially diapering or toileting) and any food preparation. Transmission
of food-borne illness often occurs because of poor hand washing by the
person responsible for food preparation.
| Kitchen staff supervising older children who are assisting in food
preparation must be certified by the center director or a nutrition
specialist as qualified to follow the sanitation, safety and disinfection
policies of the center. | |
Using safe techniques for preparing food is essential to avoid transmitting food-borne illness. Some suggestions for safe food preparation include:
General
| Wash your hands
before and after handling raw meat, fish or poultry.
| Never put a spoon used to taste food back into the food without washing
it.
| Do not return food from individual plates back into the serving bowl.
| Keep raw foods and cooked foods separate, and use separate utensils when
preparing them.
| Cook food promptly after it has thawed.
| Serve food promptly after preparation.
| Cover unserved food promptly, refrigerate it quickly and use it within 24
hours. Discard food that has been out of the refrigerator for 2 or more
hours.
| Heat leftovers until the inside temperature is 165 degrees or until they
are steaming hot.
| Inspect foods daily for spoilage. | |
Meat, Fish and Poultry
| Thaw frozen meat, fish or poultry on a plate in the refrigerator or in the
microwave, not on the countertop at room temperature.
| Do not use the same cutting board for raw fruits and vegetables that you
use for meat unless you wash it thoroughly between uses. Meat and poultry
juices may contain bacteria or parasites. If you use a cutting board first
for meat and then for salads or vegetables, you may contaminate the salads
or vegetables with bacteria or parasites.
| Marinate meat in the refrigerator, not on the counter. If you are going to
baste cooking meat with the marinade, boil the marinade for a few minutes
first to kill any bacteria.
| Use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of meats,
especially large roasts or turkey.
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Defrost frozen fish only in the refrigerator or in cold water.
| Be suspicious of fish that tastes peppery, metallic or bitter. It could be
tainted or you could be reacting to a substance in the fish.
| Place leftover, cooked fish in the refrigerator within one hour and do not
keep it more than 2 days.
| Do not use home canned food, food from dented or rusted cans, cans that
are leaking or not properly sealed, or cans that are unlabeled. | |
Dairy
| Don’t leave eggs out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours.
| Don’t lick or allow children to lick a batter bowl or eat raw cookie
batter that has raw egg in it.
| Avoid icing that contains raw egg whites.
| Use dry milk and milk products only for cooking. Carefully follow
directions for reconstitution and storage. | |
| Thoroughly wash fruits and vegetables before serving.
| Do not use the same cutting board for raw fruits and vegetables that you
use for meat unless you wash it thoroughly between uses. Meat and poultry
juices may contain bacteria or parasites. If you use a cutting board first
for meat and then for salads or vegetables, you may contaminate the salads
or vegetables with bacteria or parasites.
| Remove and discard the outer leaves from leafy vegetables. | |
| Cover all meats while in the microwave.
| Turn meat over at least once while cooking and rotate the dish.
| Stir ground meats 1-2 times while cooking.
| Rotate meatloaf dishes at least once and let stand at least 7 minutes
after cooking.
| Follow your individual microwave instructions for cooking meat properly. | |
| Opened food should be covered with plastic or sealed in a plastic bag,
labeled with the date it was opened and refrigerated quickly.
| Extra cooked food should be cooled, covered in plastic, labeled and
refrigerated quickly.
| All food items in the refrigerator should be in separate, sealed
containers or plastic bags.
| Raw foods should be kept below the cooked foods in the refrigerator.
| Open foods that do not require refrigeration should be sealed in nonporous
containers and kept in a clean area at least 6 inches from the floor.
| Dry bulk foods should be stored in covered, sealed glass, metal or
food-grade plastic containers and should be labeled and dated.
| Garbage should be placed in containers with a tight fitting lid and
removed from the kitchen daily. Garbage should be kept away from the
children, and garbage containers should be labeled.
| Medication, cleaning products, and toxic substances should be stored in a
separate area from food, preferably out of the kitchen, away from the
children and in a locked cabinet or separate, locked refrigerator. | |
Proper cleaning is critical for preventing the transmission of food-borne illnesses. Things that look neat on the surface may harbor organisms or parasites unless cleaned properly. Cleaning techniques should include:
| Clean and sanitize food preparation areas, food service areas and dining
areas before and after each meal or use.
| Clean and sanitize equipment used for food preparation after each use, and
store it in a clean and sanitary manner.
| Wash cutting boards with hot water and detergent and sanitize them between
uses. Cutting boards must be made of a nonporous material and should
be discarded if they have cuts and crevices.
| A 2-compartment sink with an approved dishwasher or a 3-compartment
sink to wash, rinse and disinfect is ideal for cleaning dishes. If neither
of these is available, the child care center must use paper products and
plastic utensils that can be discarded after every use.
| Clean and disinfect bottles, bottle caps and nipples between each use.
| Either wash napkins, bibs and tablecloths after each or use paper products
and discard them after each use.
| Clean the refrigerator regularly with soap and water or a disinfectant.
| Remove any raw juice spills from meat, fish or poultry as soon as they
occur, and clean the area with warm, soapy water or a disinfectant solution.
| Rinse kitchen sponges in an antimicrobial solution.
| After each use, scrub your cutting board with soap and water or run it
through the dishwasher on a hot setting to destroy bacteria. Rinsing it with
water or wiping it with a sponge does not prevent food-borne illness.
Plastic cutting boards clean more easily than wooden cutting boards.
| Wipe the counters with wet paper towels after preparing a meal and then
discard them. Repeatedly using the same dishcloth to wipe off the counter
may spread bacteria or parasites.
| If dishcloths become soiled with food juices, wash them in the washing
machine before using again. Dishcloths that are used over and over can be a
source of contamination to you and the food you are preparing.
| Periodically sanitize the kitchen drain, sink and garbage disposal by
pouring an antimicrobial kitchen-cleansing agent or a solution of 1 teaspoon
of bleach to l quart of water down the drain. Food particles and a moist
environment are ideal growing places for bacteria.
| Remember that hand washing before and after handling raw meat, fish or
poultry can be the best prevention for avoiding food-borne illness. | |
If an outside vendor provides food to the child care center, that vendor’s place of business must be inspected and approved by the local health department. Centers that use outside vendors must follow guidelines for proper holding and serving of food, including the ability to keep hot foods at 140 degrees Fahrenheit or more and cold foods at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or less, until the food is served to prevent bacterial proliferation in the food.
Keeping food fresh and uncontaminated is more difficult when eating outdoors than when eating indoors. If you are preparing and serving a picnic or outside meal for the children at the center, food-safety methods should include:
General
| Wash your hands and the children’s hands frequently and thoroughly
before preparing, handling or eating food.
| Have pre-moistened towlettes available for the children, and be sure to
give one to the cook to use after handling raw meats.
| Keep all dishes covered when not serving to keep insects away. Insects
such as flies can carry bacteria and may contaminate your food.
| Keep cooked and raw foods in separate containers.
| Eat food while it’s hot. The longer it sits, the more likely it is to
grow bacteria.
| Use plastic containers when drinking juice. The acid in juices can cause
metal to leach out of untreated metal cans.
| Be sure that cider from a roadside stand has been pasteurized. Otherwise,
you run the risk of acquiring Salmonella or E-coli. You can also acquire
salmonella from raw egg, unpasteurized milk and unpasteurized orange juice.
| If the ice in the cooler has melted, discard the food.
| Do not leave food out of the cooler for more than 1 hour on a warm day.
| When in doubt about whether food has been exposed to the sun for too long,
throw it out.
| Do not eat food that does not look and smell fresh.
| Do not drink water from an unfamiliar source. Carry bottled water for
drinking on picnics. | |
Meats, Poultry, Fish
| Thoroughly cook all meats and poultry (until their juices run clear).
| When cooking, grilling or broiling meats, turn them at least once during
cooking.
| Do not eat meat rare. Beef patties and steak should be cooked until brown
inside. Chicken should be white inside. Juices should be clear. Fish should
be white and flaky.
| Use separate utensils and platters for raw meat and cooked meat. Putting
cooked meat on a platter with raw meat juices may recontaminate it with
bacteria. | |
Vegetables
| Refrigerate summer salads, such as potato salad, after preparing them, and
keep them in a cooler until served.
| Bacteria that may be in or on the raw foods you used for salads can grow
and produce toxins in as little as in 7-20 minutes of exposure to sun and
heat. Leave your salads in the cooler, not on the picnic table.
| Thoroughly wash raw vegetables and fruit. | |
| Know which children have food allergies and what foods will elicit an
allergic reaction.
| Properly position children for meals:
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Use developmentally appropriate eating utensils.
| Have staff present at the table to supervise mealtime activity of older
children.
| Do not feed more than three young children at the same time.
| Have an adult sit within reach of children who have just learned to feed
themselves.
| Have staff and children properly wash their hands before and after meals.
| Do not drink hot liquids at the table with children because of the risk of
spills and burns.
| Encourage children to eat, but don’t force-feed them.
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Food-safety standards for the child care center must include policies about food brought from home and should address the following:
| Food brought from home must be labeled with the date, type of food and the
child’s name.
| Perishable food must be refrigerated promptly to avoid bacterial growth.
| Food brought from home should not be shared with other children.
| If food brought from home consistently does not meet nutritional or safety
guidelines, the center should provide food for the child and refer the
parent to a nutritional specialist or health provider for instructions. | |
Read your center’s food-safety policies and procedures now then proceed to the Food Safety Test.
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