New Year’s Resolutions
January 2007
Make safety your new year’s resolution.
Food Safety (USDA)
- Use an appliance thermometer in the refrigerator and check to make sure that the temperature is 40 degrees F. or below and the freezer temperature reads 0 degrees F. or below.
Bacteria grow rapidly at temperatures above 40 degrees F.
- Do not leave pizza sitting out on the table or a "doggie" bag in the car overnight.
Foods should not be left out more than two hours at room temperature, or 1 hour if it is over 90 degrees F. When in doubt, throw it out.
- Always separate cooked foods from uncooked foods when preparing a meal, including using separate cutting boards and knives.
Cross-contamination could cause harmful bacteria from one food to be transferred to another food.
- Never lick the spoon or the bowl of homemade cookie dough or cake batter made with raw eggs.
Salmonella - a very unpleasant and potentially dangerous illness can come from eating raw eggs - even one taste of raw dough could contain harmful bacteria.
- For questions about food safety, always call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline toll free at 1-888-MPHotline or 1-888-674-6854, TTY: 1-800- 256-7072.
Traffic Safety (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)
- Always buckle up. Safety belts are the most effective means of reducing fatalities and serious injuries in traffic crashes.
- Stay Alert Inattentiveness, carelessness, and driving too fast accounted for over 50% of the crashes in the past 10 years.
- Never drink and drive. In 2005, alcohol related fatalities accounted for 39% of all traffic accidents. In fact, 1 occurs every 30 minutes.
- Drive sensibly not aggressively. Aggressive driving techniques are linked to at least half of all traffic accidents.
- Weatherize your car and always adjust your driving to weather conditions. Over 450,000 injury crashes occur annually in adverse weather conditions or on slick pavement.
Personal Safety
(US Department of Justice)
- Have lights in all entrances of your home as well as good locks on all doors and windows. In 2005, 77% (18.0 million) were property crimes.
- Be aware of your environment and take reasonable precautions. In 2005, there were an estimated 1.2 million motor vehicle thefts and an estimated 6.8 million (6,776,807) larceny-theft offenses.
- Mentally commit to doing everything you can to stay safe. In 2005, the estimated volume of violent crime in the Nation increased 2.3 percent.
For more ways to keep safe, read Your Inside Look at Crime Prevention: McGruff Files, developed by the National Crime Prevention Council.