What is the second rule of safe food preparation in the home?

The second cardinal rule of safe home food preparation is: Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold.

• Use a digital or dial food thermometer to ensure that meats are completely cooked. Insert the thermometer into the center of the food and wait 30 seconds for accurate measurement. Beef, lamb, and veal should be cooked to at least 145 F (63 C); pork and ground beef to 160 F (71 C); whole poultry and thighs to 180 F (82 C); poultry breasts to 170 F (77 C); and ground chicken or turkey to 165 F (74 C).
• Eggs should be cooked until the white and the yolk are firm. Avoid foods containing raw eggs, such as homemade ice cream, mayonnaise, eggnog, cookie dough and cake batter, because they carry a Salmonella risk. Their commercial counterparts usually don't because they're made with pasteurized eggs. Cooking the egg-containing product to an internal temperature of at least 160 F (71 C) will kill the bacteria.
• Seafood should be thoroughly cooked to an internal temperature of at least 145 F (63 C). Fish that's ground or flaked, such as a fish cake, should be cooked to at least 155 F (68 C), and stuffed fish to at least 165 F (74 C).

If you don't have a food thermometer, look for other signs of doneness. For example:

• Fish is done when the thickest part becomes opaque and the fish flakes easily when poked with a fork.
• Shrimp can be simmered three to five minutes or until the shells turn red.
• Clams and mussels are steamed over boiling water until the shells open (five to 10 minutes). Then boil three to five minutes longer.
• Oysters should be sautéed, baked or boiled until plump, about five minutes.

Protect food from cross-contamination after cooking, and eat it promptly.

• Cooked foods should not be left standing on the table or kitchen counter for more than two hours. Disease-causing bacteria grow in temperatures between 40 and 140 F (4 and 60 C). Cooked foods that have been in this temperature range for more than two hours should not be eaten.
• If a dish is to be served hot, get it from the stove to the table as quickly as possible. Reheated foods should be brought to a temperature of at least 165 F (74 C). Keep cold foods in the refrigerator or on a bed of ice until serving. This rule is particularly important to remember in the summer months.
• After the meal, leftovers should be refrigerated as soon as possible. (Never mind that scintillating dinner table conversation!) Meats should be cut in slices of three inches or less and all foods should be stored in shallow containers to hasten cooling. Be sure to remove all the stuffing from roast turkey or chicken and store it separately. Giblets should also be stored separately. Leftovers should be used within three days.

And here are just a few more parting tips to keep your favorite dishes safe.

• Don't thaw meat and other frozen foods at room temperature. Instead, move them from the freezer to the refrigerator for a day or two; or defrost submerged in cold water. You can also defrost in the microwave oven or during the cooking process. Cook foods immediately after defrosting in the microwave or cold water.
• Never taste any food that looks or smells "off" or comes out of leaking, bulging or severely damaged cans or jars with leaky lids.

Though all these dos and don'ts may seem overwhelming, remember, if you want to stay healthy, when it comes to food safety, the old saying "rules are made to be broken" does not apply!

Source: Excerpted from FDA Consumer - The Unwelcome Dinner Guest: Preventing Foodborne Illness, Jan.- Feb. 1991; Revised Dec. 1997, Feb.. 1999, Oct. 1999, Jun. 2000, Jul. 2002, and Mar. 2003.