Kitchen Safety Tips

* Wash your hands both before and after handling raw food and again after eating. Hands should be washed in hot soapy water and rinsed in warm.

* Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly. This not only minimizes bacteria, but also cleans away a significant amount of the pesticides used to protect crops from disease and pests.

* Store staples in a cool, dry area. Make sure they are sealed. And rotate them so older items are used first. Whole grains should be kept refrigerated, or at least freeze them for 24 hours before placing them in the pantry. This will kill any grain moths.

* Buy a meat thermometer and use it regularly. It's the only way to make sure if food is cooked completely.

* Package leftovers well and use them within a few days. Clean out your refrigerator regularly and discard any food that appears spoiled or outdated.

* Wash utensils and cutting boards before reusing them.

* Wash or replace your kitchen cleaning cloths often.

* Resist the temptation to sample uncooked foods - even those hard-to-resist items like raw cookie dough.

* Never leave items at room temperature. The temperature between 40F and 140F is the perfect zone for bacteria to grow rapidly.

* Let someone else do the cooking if you are ill.

* Clean your kitchen promptly. Dishes and pots left in the sink and dirty counters breed harmful bacteria.

Current health studies say that the number of potentially harmful bacteria in our food supply has increased fivefold since 1942. Whether our food has become more of a hazard, or whether technology has given us a greater ability to detect these harmful bacteria is immaterial. We are all susceptible - especially children, pregnant women, the elderly and those whose immune systems are compromised.