Cooking mistakes can kill: Food safety tips made simple

Whether you’re cooking up something simple or creating a masterpiece, there’s some things everybody needs to know

ORLANDO, Fla. – The CDC reports mistakes in the kitchen can result in serious sicknesses like food poisoning, salmonella, listeria or the norovirus.

Bacteria on your countertops and germs on your hands can be the culprits. So how can you make sure you’re being safe?

The WHO estimates 600 million people, fall ill after eating contaminated food. 420,000 people will die from it.

But you can take some steps to make sure the food you’re serving is safe.

When storing food, refrigerate or freeze groceries within two hours, after that, bacteria start to grow.

Don’t taste food to see if it’s still good. If it’s after the expiration date, throw it out. You can’t taste, see, or even smell all bacteria that causes food poisoning.

Never put cooked foods back on the same plate that once held raw foods. Foodborne pathogens from raw meat can easily spread to ready-to-eat foods.

Never thaw your food on the counter. Foodborne pathogens multiply rapidly when foods are in the danger zone between 40°f and 140°f. Instead, always thaw foods in the refrigerator, cold water or in the microwave. And to avoid that danger zone, don’t cool your cooked foods on the countertop either before putting it in the fridge.

Children under five years of age carry 40% of the foodborne disease burden, with 125,000 deaths every year.