Basics of Kitchen Food Safety: Clean, Separate, Cook, Chill

Learn the about the basics of food safety in the kitchen. The four simple concepts:  clean, separate, cook and chill can help prevent foodborne illness.

• Cleaning and Sanitizing the Kitchen - using inexpensive household food-safe products (The Ohio State University) (PDF 1.6 MB)
• Don't Wash Your Chicken! (New Mexico State University)
• Fight BAC! (Partnership for Food Safety Education)
• Five Keys to Safer Food Manual (World Health Organization PDF 3,936 KB)
• Food Safety Education - the Four Messages: Clean, Separate, Cook, Chill (USDA)
• Food Safety is Everyone's Business - at Home (FAO/WHO) (PDF 168 KB)
• Safe Food Handling (FDA) 
• Food Safety (USDA) 
• Spring Clean Your Way into a Safer Kitchen (Partnership for Food Safety Education)
• The Core Four Practices - Clean, Separate, Cook, Chill (Partnership for Food Safety Education)
• The Story of your Dinner (Partnership for Food Safety Education) Recipes, videos, graphics and kids’ activity sheets. 
  • La Historia de su Cena (en Español)
• UC Food Safety in the Kitchen Publications (UC Food Safety)
• Washing Food - Does it Promote Food Safety? (USDA)

Packing a Safe Lunch

Packing a safe lunch for our little ones is just as important as packing a lunch that is nutritious. The web pages below discuss food safety tips for the lunch box.

• The Lunch Box Series, C: Safe Lunches for Preschool Children (UCANR Pub 8109, PDF 2335 KB) Tips on keeping food safety in mind when you put together your preschooler's nutritious sack lunch. In English and Spanish (La Lonchera: Cómo empacar almuerzos seguros para niños preescolares (UCANR Pub 8109-S, PDF 1290 KB).
• Back to School Food Safety Tips for Parents and Students (USDA)

Eating Outdoors

• Food Safety While Hiking, Camping & Boating (USDA-FSIS) 
• Handling Food Safely While Eating Outdoors (FDA)
• Pack Food Safety on your Next Hike or Camping Trip (USDA-FSIS)
• Seasons Change, but Food Safety Shouldn't - Road Trip, Camping, Beach (foodsafety.gov)
• Splash into Food Safety at the Pool this Summer (USDA)
• Summer and Vacation (foodsafety.gov) 
• Your Top Ten Food Safety Tips for Summer Grilling (USDA-FSIS) 

Food Safety for Specific Food Types

Holiday Food Safety

Kitchen Appliances and Tools

How to properly use thermometers to determine the temperature of household refrigerators, freezers, ovens, and microwaves.

• Appliance Thermometers (USDA)   
• Calibrating Thermometers in Boiling Water: Boiling Point / Atmospheric Pressure / Altitude Tables (Dr. O. Peter Snyder, Hospitality Institute of Technology and Management) (PDF 98 KB)
• Creating a Properly Made Ice Bath (ThermoWorks)
• FoodKeeper App (FoodSafety.gov) Search available on website, with links to Android and Apple apps.
• Go 40 degrees or below - keep your refrigerator temp at 40 degrees or below - infographic (fightbac.org) (PDF 90 KB)
• Go 40 degrees or below - the science behind the messages (fightbac.org) (PDF 124 KB)
• How to Calibrate a Meat Thermometer (Video) (UC Davis & North American Meat Institute for the Meat News Network)
• Kitchen Thermometers (USDA)
• Cooking with Microwave Ovens (USDA)
• Slow Cookers and Food Safety (USDA)
• The Expert's Guide to Food Thermometers (Video) (UC Davis & North American Meat Institute for the Meat News Network) 
• Thermometer Calibration Guide (Kansas State University) (PDF 172 KB)
• Using Your Smartphone or Tablet in the Kitchen: Is it a Food Safety Hazard? (FDA)

Other Information

• Extension services are the best free cooking resource.  Here’s how to use them (UC Food Safety quoted in The Washington Post, May 31, 2021)
• Food recalls: FAQ with food safety experts (ABC10; October 24, 2018)
• Molds on Food (USDA, 2013) (PDF 588 KB)

UC Food Safety in the Kitchen Publications (UC Food Safety)