Keep everything that touches food clean - hands, utensils, bowls, countertops. Wash hands with warm, soapy water prior to preparing any food, and after handling raw meat, poultry and fish. Use separate platters, cutting boards, trays and utensils for cooked and uncooked meat, poultry and fish. Keep juices from raw meat, poultry and fish from coming into contact with other foods, cooked or raw. Always wash contact surfaces and utensils with warm, soapy water immediately after preparing these products.

When using a cutting board, it is best to use separate boards for each food type. Never use the same cutting board for raw meat or poultry that is used for cooked and ready-to-eat foods. Wash food preparation surfaces thoroughly with warm, soapy water and then sanitize the surface after each use. To sanitize cutting surfaces, wash with a solution of 2 to 3 teaspoons of household bleach in one quart of warm water. Rinse with plain hot water.

Never eat raw seafood, meat, poultry, eggs (or foods containing raw eggs such as homemade salad dressing, mayonnaise, ice cream or cookie dough). Never drink unpasteurized milk or other unpasteurized dairy products. Direct sneezes and coughs away from food; cover mouth and nose with tissue when sneezing or coughing; wash hands after sneezing or coughing.

Thoroughly wash all produce with clean, drinkable water; use a brush if necessary.

When marinating meat, seafood or poultry, use a covered, non-metallic container and place it in the refrigerator. Ingredients in marinades such as wine, vinegar and lemon juice are acidic and will cause a chemical reaction with some metals. When this happens the metal will leach into the food being marinated.

Avoid mixing dark colored sauces (such as teriyaki, Worcestershire or soy sauces) in with ground meat or poultry as they make it more difficult to judge doneness. Instead, brush sauces on the cooked surface of the patty about midway through the cooking cycle. Be careful not to recontaminate fully cooked meat or poultry by adding sauce with a brush which was used on raw or undercooked foods. Do not use marinade which has been in contact with raw meat, fish or poultry as a sauce for the cooked food without first bringing the marinade to a boil for at least one minute.