Prior to cooking food, it is very important to practice safe preparation procedures. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends observing the following four principles regarding food handling, cooking, and storage:
- Clean—Wash hands and cook/preparation surfaces often.
- Separate—To prevent cross-contamination between food and cooking items, separate them.
- Cook—Cook foods to the proper recommended temperature to kill bacteria.
- Chill—Refrigerate food and ingredients promptly after use and eating.
As per the USDA, these steps are essential to avoid foodborne illnesses, since harmful bacteria that may cause illness is not detectable via sight, smell, or taste. In addition, certain foods have specific recommendations, such as cooking greens and other vegetables until just tender and saving the water after cooking beans and vegetables to use in other dishes in order to retain the most vitamins. Following these rules in handling and preparing food will not only ensure its safety, but also improve its taste...
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and preserve its nutritional value.
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The Principles of Food Preparation are conceptually basic and, as the phrase suggests, standard across the restaurant and cafeteria industries. These principles set forth the expectations that should be met when one is planning a meal, especially for a large group. They include preparing a menu that is balanced between food groups to ensure nutritional value, proper handling of the raw and cooked food for health reasons, maintenance of a clean kitchen to minimize the risk of food-borne diseases, proper personal hygeine, and proper storage of food both to prevent spoiling and to prevent infestation of bugs and rodents.
When health inspectors visit restaurants and cafeterias, they observe the procedures followed by the kitchen staff very closely, and will indicate when those procedures are below standards. Among those indications of unsafe food preparation are failure of the staff handling the food to wear plastic gloves and hair coverings, improper temperatures in refrigerators and freezers where food is stored, containers unsecured so that roaches or rats can access them, and overall cleanliness. Failure to comply with the Principles of Food Preparation can cost a restaurant business, and can result in monetary fines and desist orders that possibly even close it down.
[Note: the individual who answered this question has considerable experience in the food preparation industry, including volunteering in a school cafeteria preparing meals for children.]
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