• Do not store any raw meat (red or white) outside the refrigerator or freezer.
• Perishable food should be consumed within two hours. If not, it must be stored in the refrigerator to extend its shelf life.
• Regularly and carefully check the temperatures of refrigerators and freezers, and record the temperature readings (preferably use a thermometer).
• Perishable raw foods like red meat, chicken, and fish should be defrosted in a safe and hygienic manner, keeping the quality intact, ensuring minimal drip loss, and preventing contamination to other foods.
• To maintain the quality of various meats during freezing, store them in their original packaging until consumption and defrost them properly when needed.
• Seafood like fish and shrimp should be stored at the coldest possible temperature in the cold storage unit.
• Generally, canned products with acidity, such as tomato paste and various canned foods, should be stored for 12 to 18 months, while low-acid meat cans can be stored for 2 to 5 years. Always check for natural appearance, absence of swelling, and correct expiry dates before using any canned product.
• Discard any cans that are bulging, crushed, damaged, or showing signs of rust.

Cold Chain Rules

1. Cool food quickly to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria (many people believe that placing hot food in the fridge damages it, but this is not true; hot food will not damage the fridge).
   • The key point is that cooling food properly keeps both the food and you healthy.
2. Set the refrigerator temperature to no more than 4°C and the freezer temperature to -18°C.
3. Perishable foods, ready-to-eat meals, and leftovers should be cooled or frozen within two hours.
4. Place large amounts of leftover food in shallow containers to cool faster and place them in the refrigerator.
5. Do not overload the refrigerator (air must circulate properly to keep food fresh).
6. Always marinate foods in the refrigerator.
7. During family picnics or barbecues, keep perishable foods cold by using coolers, ice, or cold packs.

Never defrost frozen foods at room temperature. It’s best to defrost them in the refrigerator to ensure food safety.

• A 4-5 lb food item will defrost in the refrigerator within 24 hours.
• Outside the fridge, you can defrost by immersing it in cold water (change the water every half hour to maintain cold temperatures).
• You can also defrost food in the microwave but must cook it immediately.

Egg Safety: To prevent foodborne illness, handle fresh eggs carefully. Even clean, unbroken eggs can be contaminated with salmonella and may cause intestinal infections.

Importance of Temperature: Each year, millions of people become ill due to dangerous foodborne bacteria. Many people don’t realize their illness is caused by foodborne bacteria and may not connect the symptoms to the source. You can get infected with harmful bacteria within 20 minutes to 6 weeks after eating contaminated food.

Young children, pregnant women, the elderly, and individuals with weakened immune systems due to conditions like AIDS, diabetes, kidney diseases, or organ transplants are most at risk for foodborne illness.

The only reliable way to ensure that food is free of harmful bacteria is to monitor the cooking temperature, especially for meats like beef, chicken, fish, and hamburgers. Simply relying on the color of the cooked food can be misleading. The safest way is to use a thermometer. Insert the thermometer 2 inches into the meat, wait for 30 seconds, and record the temperature.