Protectin Your Child At Mealtime
Keeping Mealtime Safe
Protecting children from foodborne illness is one of the mostimportant jobs of child care providers. Foodborne illness isdefined as illness caused by eating contaminated food or drink.1. Clean: Cleanliness is very important in keeping food safe. Keeping a facility clean requires good personalhygiene practices. It also requires proper cleaning and sanitizing of food contact surfaces, dishes,and equipment.Cleanliness is very important in keeping food safe. Keeping a facility clean requires good personalhygiene practices. It also requires proper cleaning and sanitizing of food contact surfaces, dishes,and equipment.2. Seperate:Cross contamination occurs when one surface contaminates another. Separating hazards fromfoods prevents cross-contamination—for example, separating raw foods from cooked foods.Another example is storing chemicals in a separate location from food.3. Chill:Proper chilling of foods also helps keep them out of the temperature danger zone. Chilling foodsis important at several steps in handling foods: receiving, storing, preparing, and cold holding.4. Small Portions:Cutting your childs food into smaller bites will help to prevent choking.