Students purchase food from retail establishments. Exploring all the aspects of safe food handling in a supermarket (or fast food restaurant) will help make them better consumers and employees.

Retail Food Safety

The 4 Cs Connection — In any restaurant or place that serves food, the 4 Cs are critical. Sometimes, the 4 Cs can be taken care of by technology.

Hi-Tech Hamburgers – Fast-Food Technology

To eliminate human error, an engineer developed a 2-sided “clam shell” type grill that has a temperature sensor. It cooks burgers on both sides simultaneously, using a sensor to ensure that all of the burgers reach a safe internal temperature.

Important Note: The “clam shell grill” is only one way to ensure safer food. Other methods, such as cooking on a grill and flipping burgers, are also effective. The point is to ensure that foods are cooked to a high enough temperature to kill any pathogens.

Handwashing

Humans are one of the biggest sources of food contamination in restaurants. So, proper handwashing is critical to keep food safe. For example, contamination can occur when someone doesn’t wash their hands and then prepares or serves food.

Supermarkets

Receiving areas are maintained at cold temperatures of 41° F (5° C) or below to maintain the cold chain that started way back in the field.

Storage areas and display cases are kept clean and temperature controlled.

Food preparation areas are also kept clean, and are set up to avoid cross-contamination.

Foods are always separated to avoid cross-contamination. Red meats, fish, and poultry will never be mixed together or mixed with fruits and vegetables.

Food Safety at Home

Even with all the great technology, food can still become contaminated, so it’s important for YOU to always practice the 4 Cs of Food Safety. Once you purchase food and take it home, the responsibility for food safety is literally in your hands.

Overview of 4 Cs in the Home

• Clean — Wash hands and surfaces often. Wash hands with warm, soapy water, and cutting boards, dishes, utensils, and surfaces with hot, soapy water before and after food preparation.
• Cook — Cook foods to proper temperatures. Using a food thermometer is the only reliable way to ensure that hamburgers, meat, and poultry reach a safe internal temperature.
• Chill — Refrigerate promptly. Refrigerate or freeze foods quickly because cold temperatures keep harmful bacteria from growing and multiplying. Follow the 2-Hour Rule: Refrigerate or freeze perishables, prepared foods, and leftovers within 2 hours or less.
• Combat Cross-Contamination (Separate) — Keep raw meats, poultry, and seafood — and the juices from raw foods — away from other foods in your shopping cart, on kitchen counters, and in your refrigerator.

Science and our Food Supply Modules

This lesson was developed as a portion of an entire unit of lessons focusing on food safety from farm to table. Use the following links to see the remaining lessons:

Module 1: Bacteria

• Understanding Bacteria
• The 12 Most Unwanted Bacteria

Module 2: Farm

• Chain of Food

Module 3: Processing and Transportation

• Blue's the Clue: Souring Milk for Science
• Mystery Juice
• Ultra High Pressure Treatment

Module 4: Retail and Home

• Supermarket Smarts
• Cooking Right: The Science of Cooking a Hamburger
• A Chilling Investigation
• Crossed Up!
• Hands Off, Bacteria!

Module 5: Outbreak and Future Technology

• Outbreak Alert - Shegella
• Beef Blasters

Evaluation

• Lose a Million Bacteria (The Game)