Meal prep safety will ensure that the meals you cook in advance will be safe to eat in the following days.
Meal preparation is an important part of daily life, but it also comes with some risks. To ensure the safety of your family, and make the most to extend the shelf life of your meals as much as possible, it’s important to follow food safety guidelines when doing your meal prepping.
In this article I share my some meal prep safety tips to help you do just that.
Why is prep food safety important?
Food safety is important because it helps prevent foodborne illnesses, when food is not properly prepared, which can cause serious health problems and even death.
Eating contaminated food can lead to food poisoning, which can cause symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever and abdominal pain.
Furthermore, food prep safety is essential for protecting vulnerable populations, such as young children, elderly people, and those with weakened immune systems.
So, always make sure to follow these food safety guidelines to ensure that the food you eat is safe and free from harmful bacteria and other contaminants.
Best practices in food safety for meal prep
Is it safe to meal prep in advance?
Yes, it’s safe to meal prep as long as you store and handle the food properly.
In this post I will share the best practices to make sure you clean, cook and keep your food at the correct temperature as well as how to store them for best results.
1. Wash your hands and working surface before and after meal prepping
I know it sounds like basic common sense but you’d be surprised at how many people actually do it wrong!
Here’s a step by step on how to correctly wash your hands before and after handling food:
- Wet your hands and forearms with clean, running water (warm or cold) and apply soap.
- Rub your hands together to make a lather and scrub them well for at least 20 seconds (clean well the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails). Wash your forearms too.
- Rinse your hands well under clean, running water.
- Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry them.
Now let’s make sure that your work surface is clean and sanitized.
Start by wiping it down with warm, soapy water, using a clean cloth or paper towel. You can also use a kitchen sanitizing spray to sanitize the surface.
Let the solution sit for a few minutes, then wipe away with a clean cloth or paper towel. Now you’re ready for meal prep!
2. Thoroughly rinse fruits and vegetables to remove any dirt or bacteria
Rinsing fruits and vegetables is an important step in ensuring that you’re eating safe and healthy produce.
Here are some tips to help you rinse your fruits and vegetables thoroughly:
- Separate your produce: Separate your fruits and vegetables into different bowls or piles so that you can rinse each one separately. This will help to make sure that you don’t cross-contaminate them.
- Scrub and rinse: Scrub your produce with your hand or a vegetable brush and rinse them thoroughly to wash away dirt and bacteria. For leafy greens, gently separate and agitate the leaves with your hands to loosen the dirt or earth. Be sure to pay special attention to the stems and crevices of fruits and vegetables that may have a lot of dirt on their peel. This will help to ensure that any dirt or bacteria is washed away.
- Soak: A solution of water and vinegar is also very effective in removing any lingering dirt or bacteria. Fill a large bowl or your sink with water. If you’re using the sink make sure it’s properly cleaned beforehand! Most of the bacteria is eliminated by proper wash but if you want an extra peace of mind you can also soak your veggies in a solution of water of vinegar for 10 minutes (using a ratio of three parts water to one part vinegar).
- Dry: After you’ve rinsed and soaked your produce, make sure you dry it off with a paper towel or dish towel. For leafy greens, use a salad spinner or colander to get rid of the moisture more efficiently before drying them in paper or cloth towel.
Never rinse raw meat! It’s a common misconception that you should rinse beef, pork, poultry or sea-food in running water. However, the bacteria found in raw meat cannot be rinsed away, but only cooked away.
If you rinse these ingredients you can cause bacteria from the meat to spread in the sink and onto other surfaces in the kitchen, causing cross-contamination to other ingredients that won’t be thoroughly cooked like the meat. So, don’t do it!
3. Avoid cross-contamination
Preparing meals while avoiding cross-contamination is key for your meal prep safety.
Here are some tips to help you do just that:
- Keep raw meats, seafood, and poultry separate from ready-to-eat foods.
- Use separate cutting boards, knives and other utensils for raw meats and produce, or sanitize them well before moving to other types of ingredients.
- Cook meats and seafood to their recommended safe internal temperatures.
- Do not reuse marinades or sauces that have been in contact with raw foods.
- Clean and sanitize all kitchen surfaces regularly.
4. Make sure your ingredients are properly cooked
Food that is undercooked can cause to get sick. Make sure to cook your meals to the recommended temperature for each particular ingredient.
Make sure that your beef, poultry, pork and seafood are cooked thoroughly and reached the safe internal temperature, here is a chart with minimum temperature you should reach.
You can check the temperature by using a food thermometer. Avoid overcooking the ingredient by using a kitchen timer.
5. Cool and refrigerate your cooked meals properly
Another way to ensure that your meal prep is safe is cooling and refrigerating your food properly.
Here are some tips on how to cool food quickly and safely for meal prep:
- Divide the food into smaller portions in your airtight containers.
- Allow it to cool down for maximum 30 minutes, with the lid loosely on top to prevent bacteria and other contaminants from getting into the food.
- Label the containers with the date and type of food they contain. This will help you keep track of when the food was made and how long it can be safely stored.
- Once the food is cooled down, close the lid and place the container in the refrigerator or freezer.
It’s recommended and store it in airtight containers because they keep your food keep food from getting soggy and prevent spills. Additionally, air-tight containers are great for packing lunches and snacks for work or school, so if you’re on the go you have no excuses to not eat healthy.
Air-tight containers also come in a variety of sizes and shapes, making it easy for you to portion your meals to your needs perfectly.
6. Check for food expiration signs
You should be mindful of food expiration signs and throw away any food that has expired to help ensure that you are eating safe and healthy food.
You look for these signs before your meal prep session, such as looking for the expiration date on the packaging and the state of the ingredients. But also look for any signs of your prepped meals before you eat them to see if they are still safe to eat.
Here are a few tips on how to check for signs that your food has expired:
- Check the expiration date on the product packaging. This is typically the most obvious indicator of when a food item has expired. If the product has a “use by” date, the food should be consumed before that date.
- Check for any changes in the food’s texture, flavor, color or smell. All these aspects of the food should be the same as when they were cooked. If the food has a strange texture, odd odor, or a different taste than usual, it may have expired. You should not chance it, throw it away!
- Check for signs of mold. If you see any fuzzy spots or a discoloration on the food, it’s sign that it has gone bad and should be discarded immediately.
7. Ensure that you properly reheat your meals before eating
Finally, when reheating your prepared meals, make sure to bring the food to a safe internal temperature to ensure that it is safe to eat.
Re-heating meal prepped meals can be a great way to save time and money while eating healthy. But it’s important to know how to do it properly so that your meal tastes as good as when you first cooked it.
Here are some tips for re-heating meal prepped meals to make sure your food stays delicious:
- Slow Cooker: For freezer meals, put your food into the slow cooker and let it cook for a few hours. This will evenly cook and heat your meal.
- Oven: Preheat your oven to the desired temperature degrees and place your meal in the center of the oven. Bake it for 30-40 minutes or until heated through (use a food thermometer to make sure it reached the temperature internally too). It’s normally a good practice to cover the dish with aluminum foil to keep the moisture in.
- Skillet: Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and re-heat your cooked meal for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. This will help to evenly heat your meal and keep it moist.
- Microwave: Place your meal prepped meals in a microwave-safe dish and heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring halfway through. Make sure the food is pipping hot and heated throughout.
How to ensure meal prep safety?
By following these simple tips, you can make sure that your prepped meals are safe to eat and that you enjoy them just as if you had cooked them fresh.
With a little bit of planning and organization, you can save time and money by meal prepping and having delicious, nutritious meals on hand.