Kitchen Habits That Quietly Raise Your Risk of Food Poisoning

Food safety experts warn about hidden factors that can lead to foodborne illness—many of them aren’t obvious. Often these dangers lurk in our kitchens. Your kitchen has rules that everyone in the household should follow.

Among bacterial, parasitic, and viral foodborne infections, the most common culprits are Salmonella, Toxoplasma, Listeria, norovirus, and E. coli. All of these can cause serious illness, and some can be fatal.

Every year, about 550 million people worldwide fall ill from unsafe food. Children under five make up roughly 40 percent of those cases. More than 420,000 people die each year from consuming contaminated food.

Experts shared insights with the Daily Mail about the subtle factors that contribute to food-related illness and how to avoid them.

Don’t Leave Perishables Out of the Fridge

Perishable items should not sit at room temperature for more than two hours. When food stays out too long, it can reach unsafe temperatures and allow bacteria to multiply, according to Dr. Darin Detwiler, a food safety expert at Northeastern University in Boston and a former advisor to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

If food sits at unsafe temperatures, bacteria such as Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus can grow and cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, and low blood pressure. For more details on which foods need refrigeration and which belong in the pantry, read here.

Be Careful with Grocery Deliveries

If you rely on delivery services for groceries, you might be getting spoiled items without realizing it.

Dr. Detwiler says people are often less diligent about checking the quality of delivered items than those they select themselves at the supermarket.

He points out that you’re essentially handing over all decision-making to the delivery person. You can’t always trust a stranger to pick the freshest items, and the trip from the store to your home can expose food to contamination.

Weigh Food and Use a Thermometer

The time required to reach a safe cooking temperature depends on the weight and thickness of the food, especially meat. If you cook two pieces of chicken of different sizes for the same time, the larger piece is likely to be undercooked.

Toby Amidor, a dietitian and food safety expert from New York, recommends using a meat thermometer and inserting it into the thickest part of the meat to confirm it’s fully cooked.

Avoid Pre-Packaged Salad Mixes

Dr. Detwiler says he avoids pre-packaged salads from grocery stores because they can be risky. In recent years, bagged salads have repeatedly been linked to Listeria contamination.

Those salads are made in processing facilities where many employees touch product lines, creating opportunities for contamination.

Store Food in Smaller Containers

When you store large amounts of food in one big container, the inner portions cool more slowly and become more susceptible to bacterial growth.

For example, mashed potatoes or pasta left in the pot can cool unevenly, leaving inner layers vulnerable. Dr. Detwiler recommends dividing food into smaller portions and putting them in smaller containers before refrigerating or freezing.

Replace Cutting Boards and Utensils Regularly

Using the same knife and cutting board for different foods can cause cross-contamination.

For example, cutting vegetables with a knife that was used on raw chicken can spread bacteria such as Salmonella, which is commonly found in animal products. Simply rinsing the board and knife often isn’t enough; traces of bacteria can remain. Dr. Detwiler recommends having separate boards, knives, and utensils for different food types.

Washing cooking tools in the dishwasher helps, since higher temperatures kill many harmful microorganisms.

Don’t Meal-Prep for an Entire Week in the Fridge

People often prepare meals for the whole week to avoid cooking again until the weekend, but experts warn against storing cooked meals in the refrigerator for too long. Prepared meals are generally safe in the fridge for only three to four days.

After about four days, bacteria can begin to multiply even in airtight containers. The safer option is to freeze meals at the start of the week and reheat them as needed, says Dr. Detwiler.

Keep Pets Out of the Kitchen While You Cook

If you let your dog lick your hand while you’re cooking, you could transfer pathogens from the pet to your food.

Capnocytophaga is a common microbe in dogs and cats that can infect humans and cause fever, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Never Wash Raw Meat Before Cooking

‘People often think rinsing meat removes bacteria, but it actually increases the risk of contaminating the sink and countertops,’ warns Amidor.

A U.S. Department of Agriculture study found that a quarter of people who washed raw poultry transferred bacteria to salad. Soaking meat in saltwater also does not make it safer, the department says.

Buy Only Pasteurized Dairy Products

Dr. Detwiler urges caution with unpasteurized dairy. Most store-bought dairy is pasteurized, but farm-fresh and market products that skip pasteurization may contain harmful microorganisms.

Dairy that hasn’t been pasteurized can be dangerous for vulnerable groups, such as pregnant women and older adults.