At Foodtown, we believe offering safe, wholesome, high quality foods in clean, modern and attractive stores are the foundation for consumer confidence. And we care about helping you bring the highest quality, safest meals to your table. That's why we carefully inspect all of our products both before and after they enter our store. Foodtown actively promotes safe food handling by continually reinforcing established policies and procedures through associate training and education programs throughout our organization.

To ensure that your food stays safe after leaving our stores and while you're preparing it, be sure to follow the 4 basic, simple guidelines that, when followed, will help ensure the cleanliness of your kitchen and the safety of your foods. Familiarize yourself with these food safety tips and follow them faithfully so you and your guests can fully enjoy your meals

1. CLEAN: Wash hands and surfaces often. Keep everything clean while preparing holiday meals. Wash hands and kitchen surfaces often with soap and water. Always wash cutting boards, dishes, and utensils after preparing each food item and before going on to the next item. Paper towels are recommended for cleaning up kitchen surfaces.

2. SEPARATE: Don't cross-contaminate. Bacteria easily spreads from one food to another. This is especially true when handling meats and ready-to-eat foods that don't need further preparation. Separate raw meat, poultry, and seafood from other foods when shopping at the grocery store and in your refrigerator. Use one cutting board for raw meat and poultry and a separate one for other food. Never place cooked food on a plate that previously held raw meat and poultry unless the plate has been thoroughly cleaned.

3. COOK: Cook to proper temperatures. Use a food thermometer to make sure meat and poultry are cooked to proper temperatures. Cook whole poultry to 180 ºF in the thigh. When reheating, leftovers should be thoroughly heated to 165 ºF; sauces, soup, and gravy should be brought to a rolling boil. Eggs are safe to use in food such as homemade eggnog or Caesar salad as long as egg mixtures are cooked to 160 ºF. Again, use a food thermometer to make sure the proper temperature has been reached.

4. CHILL: Refrigerate promptly. Refrigerate or freeze leftovers within 2 hours. Leftovers should be placed into shallow containers for faster cooling. The refrigerator should be maintained at 40 °F or below and the freezer at 0 °F or below. Keep hot foods hot, 140 ºF or above, and cold foods cold, 40 ºF or below. This is especially true for buffets. Use chafing dishes, crock-pots, and warming trays to keep foods hot. Keep cold foods cold by nesting the serving dishes in bowls of ice. Never defrost food at room temperature. Thaw food in the refrigerator, in a cold-water bath, or in the microwave. Do not marinate foods at room temperature, marinate in the refrigerator.

Always keep a fire extinguisher in an easily accessible location
in the event of a fire.
Never use water to extinguish a grease fire - it will only feed the flames.