Food-Keep-or-Toss

Food: Keep or Toss?

July 9, 2025 General /Family

Food Safety Rules

Food Safety Rules

Kendra found some leftover chicken in her fridge.
She didn’t remember when she made it.

Should she keep it or throw it away?
She didn’t want to waste food—but she also didn’t want to make her family sick.

To stay safe, remember these four food safety rules:

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Cook
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Clean
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Chill
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Separate
food unsafe What Makes Food Unsafe?

Food can have harmful germs like bacteria, viruses, or parasites.
These germs can make you sick. Most food has some bacteria, but how you store, clean, cook, and handle food can stop it from becoming dangerous.

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Did you know?

About 1 in 6 Americans gets sick from food every year.

How Do Germs Get into Food?

Germs can be almost anywhere—dirt, water, animals, and even people. Here are some common ways germs get into food:

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When Should You Keep or Toss Food?

Donot-trust
Don’t trust your nose.

If something smells bad, it probably is bad.
But food can look or smell fine and still be unsafe. It’s better to follow a schedule.

Here’s a chart to help:

FOOD FRIDGE FREEZER
Ground beef, pork, lamb1–2 days3–4 months
Organ meats1–2 days3–4 months
Steaks, chops, roasts3–5 days4–12 months
Leftovers, casseroles3–4 days2–3 months
Ground poultry1–2 days3–4 months
Chicken pieces1–2 days9 months
Whole chicken1–2 days1 year
Cooked ham slices3–4 days1–2 months
Whole ham1 week1–2 months
Hard-cooked eggs1 weekDoesn’t freeze well
Eggs in shell3–5 weeksDon’t freeze
Deli salads (chicken, egg, tuna, etc.)3–5 daysDoesn’t freeze well
Fresh fish or shellfish1–2 days3–12 months
Cooked seafood3–4 days3 months
Processed meats (see below) See below 1–2 months
Bacon 7 days Hot Dog

It’s best to limit how much processed meat you eat like hot dogs, bacon, or deli meats. Eating too much has been linked to cancer.

Deli meat (opened) 3–5 days
Deli meat or hot dogs (unopened) 2 weeks
Hot dogs (opened) 1 week
Jerky, pepperoni 2–3 weeks
Raw sausage 1–2 days
Fully cooked sausage 1 week
Component-Toss Food

Easy Ways to Stay Organized

Want to keep track of when food was opened or cooked? Try these tips:

What About Mold?

Some mold is safe (like in blue cheese), but some can make you sick.
Don’t sniff moldy food—you could breathe in harmful spores.

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Foods with Mold You Can Keep:

Food

What to Do

Hard cheese (cheddar, Parmesan)

Cut off at least 1 inch around the mold.
Don’t let the knife touch the mold.

Firm fruits/veggies (carrots, cabbage, peppers)

Cut off at least 1 inch around the mold.

Hard salami, dry-cured ham

Scrub off the mold and eat.

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Foods with Mold You Should Toss:

What About Moldy Bread?

If you see mold on one slice, throw the whole loaf away. Mold spreads fast, even if you can’t see it.

When in doubt, throw it out.

REFERENCES:

Feeding a 6-7 Month Old

Feed solids with a spoon and from a bowl, never from a bottle.

Feeding a 10-12 Month Old

Breast milk is the most important source of nutrition for your baby, even after you start offering solid foods.

Feeding a 8-9 Month Old

Feed solids with a spoon. Never put cereal in a bottle.

Tips

Mom new born home

Breast milk and formula feeding:

Around 2-3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months of age, babies may experience a growth spurt when they feed more often.

As they grow babies can hold more milk, so feedings may become further apart and take less time.

To prevent choking, always hold your baby when feeding. Never prop up a bottle to feed.

Start offering whole milk when your baby is one year old.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and that breastfeeding continue for at least 12 months and beyond.

feeding solid foods

Feeding solid foods:

Wait to offer solid foods until your baby:

To prevent choking, always hold your baby when feeding. Never prop up a bottle to feed.

Try one new food at a time. Wait 5 days before trying another new food to watch for allergies. Food allergies may include wheezing, rash, or diarrhea.

Introduce peanut butter around 6 months. Spread a small, thin smear of peanut butter or nut butter thinly on a cracker.  Watch your baby for any reaction for the next 2 hours.

Babies under one year should NOT have honey due to the risk of botulism. Also, babies should not have foods that can cause choking like nuts or whole grapes.

All babies are different. Talk with WIC or your baby’s healthcare provider about your baby’s needs.

Feeding Cues

Feeding a 4-5 Month Old

Before teeth come in, wipe gums with a soft, clean wash cloth after each feeding, especially before bed.

Feeding a 0-3 Month Old

Newborns have tiny tummies and need to be fed often. In the first few weeks, you may need to wake your baby to feed if they sleep longer than 4 hours.

Growth Spurts

Many babies are fussy during a growth spurt and will want to nurse longer and more often. This is called cluster feeding. This is your baby’s way of helping you increase your milk supply so that you can keep up with their needs. Remember, the more your baby nurses, the more milk your body makes.

Growth spurts can happen at any time, and every baby is different.

They often happen at these ages:

two-three-weeks

2 to 3 Weeks

6 Weeks

three-months

3 Months

six-months

6 Months

What foods can I get?