What to Expect the Toddler Years (181 page)

Don’t use food from unopened cans that are dented, swollen, or leaking, or from jars or bottles with seals that have “popped” before you attempted to open them, or that don’t seem to pop when you do open them for the first time.

Though leftovers that have been carefully stored and reheated to at least 165°F are safe for the rest of the family, don’t feed them to your toddler. They may contain microorganisms against which a young child has little defense.

To avoid spoilage of stored food, maintain your refrigerator at 40°F or cooler and your freezer at or below 0°F.

Store raw roasts and steaks in the refrigerator for no more than three to five days; hamburger, chicken, and turkey, for no more than one or two days. Refrigerator temperatures should be 40°F or lower.

Thaw meat, poultry, and fish in the refrigerator (or, after protecting it in a sealed plastic bag, in the sink, by running cold water over it) rather than at room temperature.

After handling raw meat, poultry, or fish, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. Also wash with soap and water the surfaces and utensils that these raw foods came in contact with. Wipe up drippings with a paper towel to avoid contaminating sponges and dishcloths.

Cook meat, poultry, and fish thoroughly. The center of a piece of meat should reach at least 160°F (use a meat thermometer to test); poultry should reach 180°F; and fish, 145°F. Meats and poultry should not look rare; there should be no pink near the bones of chicken or turkey or at the middle of a hamburger, steak, or roast; juices should run clear or yellowish, not pink or red. (Ground meat and poultry require the most care in preparation and cooking because, being ground, they have more surfaces that can be contaminated.) Fish should be opaque and flaky. Hot dogs (not an ideal food for toddlers for both health and safety reasons), though pre-cooked, still need to be heated to steaming. If you have any questions about meat or poultry safety, call the USDA’s Meat & Poultry Hotline: (888) 674-6854, or log on to
www.fsis.usda.gov
.

Don’t let cooked food (whether hot or cold) stand at room temperature for more than two hours before eating (one hour if room temperature is 85°F or above); once foods reach room temperature, microorganisms (such as bacteria) begin to multiply. When keeping food warm, be sure to maintain its temperature at 145°F or above (use a meat thermometer to be sure).

Do not use slow cookers for frozen or stuffed foods. When cooking in the oven, keep temperatures at 325°F or higher.

After barbecuing, don’t serve up burgers, steaks, franks, chicken, or fish on the same plate the raw food was on before barbecuing. Don’t use marinades that the raw meat or fish has been sitting in to baste with near the end of cooking or to serve as a sauce; they contain uncooked juices, which may be contaminated.

Avoid feeding your toddler raw meat, poultry, fish, and seafood (especially clams and oysters); unpasteurized dairy products (milk and cheese); and raw or partially cooked eggs (and products containing them, such as traditionally made eggnog, Caesar salad, and unbaked cake batter or cookie or bread dough).

When eating out, avoid restaurants that have unwashed windows, a heavy fly population, signs of vermin, and so on; that have food (other than bread, cakes, or fresh fruit) sitting around at room temperature for more than short periods; where food-handlers touch food with their bare hands; or where handlers have uncovered open cuts, sores, abrasions.