EXPERT SAYS FOOD SHOPPERS SHOULD PLAN AHEAD

You've just finished loading your shopping cart with raw chicken, hamburger and milk when you remember you still need to pick up some drain cleaner and maybe some paper towels.

A 10-minute detour from the frozen food section is no problem, right?

Wrong, says Diane Gregory, an environmental public health specialist with the Cape Girardeau County Health Department.

Consumers need to be as conscious of food safety in the supermarket as they are in the kitchen, she said.

"I don't think people are as aware as they need to be of how sick they can make themselves," Gregory said.

To keep the bacteria that cause food poisoning from growing, hot food needs to be kept hot and cold food needs to be kept cold, she said.

Shoppers need to plan out their purchases before they head to store, Gregory said, because the longer food is allowed to slide toward the wrong temperature, the greater the risk for food poisoning.

"I hate it when I see shoppers and they've got three things of raw chicken in their cart and they're over in the cleaning department or out in the garden shop," she said.

Perishables -- meat and poultry, milk, raw fruit and vegetables, eggs, deli food and other items -- should be picked up at the end of the shopping trip, not allowed to thaw or warm in the cart while shoppers are searching for other things.

"Grocery stores aren't set up to make that easy to do," Gregory said. "It takes some extra steps and you have to plan ahead."

Choose food that is in good condition -- don't choose packages that are torn or leaking or that are past their "sell-by or expiration dates; make sure fresh fruits are in good shape with no bruises or tears, and bags for pre-cut vegetables and fruit shouldn't be "puffy," Gregory said.

And be careful packing food into the cart to avoid cross-contamination between cooked and raw meats and fruits and vegetables.

Bag fruits and vegetables separately from meat and dairy products. And make sure juice from raw meat can't drip onto raw vegetables and fruit in the cart.

It is also important to plan for transporting the food from the store to the home, Gregory said.

The "danger zone" for foods is between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature at which bacteria multiply most rapidly, according to the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service.

If the trip from the store home takes longer than 30 minutes, carry a cooler packed with ice in which to store perishables. Put grocery bags in the passenger compartment of the car, not in the trunk, which is dangerously warm.

And once home, perishables should be unloaded from the car first and refrigerated immediately.

The refrigerator and freezer need to be kept at the proper temperature to discourage dangerous bacteria growth.

The refrigerator should be at 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and the freezer at 0 degrees.

Safe shopping

Safe food shopping: Don't bring home food poisoning

-- Buy perishable foods last, and get them home and into the refrigerator or freezer as soon as possible.

-- Don't buy food in packages that are torn or leaking. Cans shouldn't be dented or swollen.

-- Wrap raw meat and poultry in plastic bags so juices won't drip onto other foods.

-- If the trip home from the grocery store takes more than 30 minutes, pack perishable foods in an ice-filled cooler, and store bagged groceries in the passenger compartment of the vehicle, not the trunk.

-- Make sure the refrigerator and freezer are set at the proper temperature: 40 degrees Fahrenheit for the refrigerator, and 0 degrees for the freezer.