1. Home
  2. Activity Downloads
  3. Educational Safety Activities
  4. Food Safety
  5. Safe Recipe Guide Information and Resources for People Who Write Recipes

This style guide provides easy edits to any recipe to improve food safety practices. Beyond creating delicious meals, people who write recipes have an important role to play in helping others remember to cook their food safely. Did you know that when recipes include food safety tips, people are more likely to follow those steps and cook their foods safely? Help prevent the spread of foodborne illness by including simple reminders for safe food handling and preparation in all your recipes.

Safe Recipe Style Guide

The Safe Recipe Style Guide, created by food safety experts and honed by leading food journalists, is designed for use by recipe writers for all published materials, including cookbooks, social media, web sites, blog entries, newspapers and magazines, and industry promotional materials. 

pdfSafe Recipe Download the Sample Recipe Cards for Food Safety

pdfSafe Recipe Cooking with Nutritious Ingredients

pdfSafe Recipe Cooking with Nutritious Ingredients - Spanish

 

Tips for using the Safe Recipe Style Guide in Recipes:Safe Recipe

  • When giving instructions on the amount of time food should stay in the oven, or on the stovetop, grill or other cooking device, use the guideline “Cook until internal temperature reaches XX (fill in the blank as applicable to specific food) on food thermometer.”
  • Start recipes with the guideline, “Wash hands with soap and water.” Include this verbiage after each touch of raw meats, raw poultry, raw seafood, or eggs.
  • When instructing recipe user to place raw meats, poultry, seafood or eggs on a surface such as a countertop, serving plate or cutting board, include the instruction to wash the surface after the touch with the raw ingredient.
  • If the recipe contains a marinade that is used to baste or marinate raw or cooking meat, poultry or seafood, add the line, “Do not reuse marinades used on raw foods.”
  • When describing preparation process for raw meats or poultry, include the guideline, “Do not rinse raw poultry or meat.”
  • When using any form of produce in a recipe, include the following relevant guideline in the instructions with the introduction of the ingredient: “Gently rub produce under cold running water,” or “Scrub firm produce with a clean vegetable brush under running water.”

Samples of how the guideline text can be worked into a variety of types of recipes and the approved wording in the Safe Recipe Style Guide.

Video Playlist: Basic Food Safety Course and ServSafe Food Handler Practice Test

Food safety videos primarily targeting the food service industry. These lessons provided are suitable for the home kitchen for important food safety standards.


 

Information and Resources

FoodSafety.gov Charts: Food Safety at a Glance

How long can you store leftovers in the refrigerator? How can you tell when chicken breasts are done? How long does it take to cook a turkey? Check out these charts for fast answers.

FoodSafety.gov: FoodKeeper App

The FoodKeeper helps you understand food and beverages storage. It will help you maximize the freshness and quality of items. By doing so you will be able to keep items fresh longer than if they were not stored properly. It is also available as a mobile application for devices, Android and Apple.

Read More

 Public Downloads

All items are free to view, share, and download.

Public Downloads - Español (Spanish)

When available, we provide all our content with a Spanish version in our public download section. You can find additional material from sources listed in all our articles.

 Video Playlist: Food Safety and Nutrition

Fresh and Frozen Seafood: Selecting and Serving it Safely
Fish and shellfish are an important part of a healthful diet. They...
Safe Handling of Raw Produce and Fresh-Squeezed Fruit and Vegetable Juices
Fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet. Your...
The Food Label and You (Historical PSA)
Are you smarter than a food label? Find out on our quiz show spoof...
The Food Label and You: The 5-20 Rule Part 1 (Historical PSA)
Our "Reporter on the Street" asks everyday people, "What's the 5-20...
The Food Label and You: Game Show Review (Are You Smarter Than A Food Label?) (Historical PSA)
Spoof of the popular game show, this segment pits FDA's "Labelman"...
The Food Label and You: Road Food (Finding Nutrition Information on the Road) (Historical PSA)
Our host talks to a fast-food drive-through diner to demonstrate how to...
The Food Label and You: Party Food (Gametime/Play By Play) (Historical PSA)
Spoof of a Sunday Afternoon Sports show highlighting the importance of...
The Food Label and You: The 5-20 Rule Part 2 (Historical PSA)
In this take off from the 1950's, our mom explains nutrition facts to...
Food Label and You: CSI (Calorie Scene Investigators) (Historical PSA)
A spoof on the popular CSI Series. This double-segment features CSI...
The Food Label and You: Servings (Historical PSA)
Gia Mora hosts an exploration of "serving sizes" and servings per...
Food Label & You Show Open (Historical PSA)
Spoof of a 1950's-era scientist giving a classroom presentation...
Food Safety Modernization Act: Preventive Controls
Description of key preventive control provisions [vpfood]

Fresh and Frozen Seafood: Selecting and Serving it Safely

Fish and shellfish are an important part of a healthful diet. They contain high quality protein and other essential nutrients. A well-balanced diet that includes a variety of fish and ...

 

Categories