Practicing good food safety habits in the kitchen can go a long way toward getting rid of harmful bacteria and thus preventing foodborne illnesses. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “Fight BAC!” campaign recommends following these four simple steps:

Bacteria can spread throughout the kitchen and get onto cutting boards, utensils, sponges, and counter tops. • Wash your hands with hot, soapy water before handling food and after using the bathroom, changing diapers, and handling pets. • Wash your cutting boards, dishes, utensils, and counter tops with hot, soapy water after preparing each food item and before you go on to the next food. • Use plastic or other nonporous cutting boards. Wash cutting boards in the dishwasher or in hot, soapy water after use. • Consider using paper towels to clean up kitchen surfaces. If you use cloth towels, wash them often in the hot cycle of your washing machine.	Preventing cross- contamination, the spread of bacteria from one food to another, is especially important when handling raw meat, poultry, and seafood. Keep these foods and their juices away from ready-to-eat foods. • Separate raw meat, poultry, and seafood from other foods in your grocery shopping cart and in your refrigerator. • If possible, use a different cutting board for raw meat products. • Always wash hands, cutting boards, dishes, and utensils with hot, soapy water after they come in contact with raw meat, poultry, and seafood. • Never put cooked food onto a plate that has held raw meat, poultry, and seafood.	Food safety experts agree that foods are properly cooked when they are heated for a long enough time and at a high enough temperature to kill the harmful bacteria that cause foodborne illness. • Use a clean thermometer that measures cooked foods’ internal temperature to make sure meat, poultry, casseroles, and other foods are cooked all the way through. • Cook roasts and steaks to at least 145 degrees F. Whole poultry should be cooked to 180 degrees F for doneness. • Cook ground beef, where bacteria can spread during processing, to at least 160 degrees F. If a thermometer is not available, do not eat ground beef that is still pink inside. • Cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm. Don’t use recipes in which eggs remain raw or only partially cooked. • Fish should be opaque and flake easily with a fork. • When cooking in a microwave oven, make sure there are no cold spots in food where bacteria can survive. For best results, cover food, stir, and rotate for even cooking. If the microwave has no turntable, rotate the dish by hand once or twice during cooking. • Bring sauces, soups, and gravy to a boil when reheating. Heat other leftovers thoroughly to at least 165 degrees F.	Refrigerate foods quickly because cold temperatures keep harmful bacteria from growing and multiplying. Set your refrigerator to no higher than 40 degrees F and the freezer at 0 degrees F. Check these temperatures occasionally with an appliance thermometer. • Refrigerate or freeze perishables, prepared foods, and leftovers within two hours or sooner. • Never defrost food at room temperature. Thaw food in the refrigerator, under cold running water, or in the microwave. Marinate foods in the refrigerator. • Divide large amounts of leftovers into small, shallow containers for quick cooling. • Don’t pack the refrigerator. Cool air must circulate to keep food safe.