Parents are often aware that they should take steps to keep their family safe from food poisoning by practicing basic food safety tips, including:
- washing hands before eating and preparing meals
- not cross-contaminating foods, utensils, wash cloths, cutting boards, counters, or plates, etc.
- washing fruits and vegetables under running water
- refrigerating or freezing leftovers within two hours of preparing them
- cooking foods to a safe temperature, which is usually at least 160 degrees for ground beef, 180 degrees for a whole chicken, and 165 degrees for leftovers
- making sure your refrigerator stays at 40 degrees or lower to keep leftovers and ready-to-eat foods safe
- checking expiration dates on foods
- checking for food recalls
Many of these basic food safety tips, plus a few more, also apply to baby food, especially when you are making homemade baby food.
Jar Baby Food Safety
Baby food seems like it should be one of the safest and easiest things to feed your baby -- just open the jar and get going, right?
It is almost that easy.
First off, when you open a jar of baby food, make sure the safety button in the lid actually pops open, or that the foil or plastic seal is intact before you crack it. Next, put a portion of the baby food into a small dish and feed your baby from this dish. That way, you can refrigerate the unused portion of baby food in its original container for one or two days, until your baby finishes it.
Homemade Baby Food Safety
In addition to the basic food safety tips outlined above, remember that there are foods to avoid feeding your baby, including honey (botulism), egg whites (allergies), and beets, carrots, collard greens, spinach, and turnips (nitrates).
