Common violations found in restaurant inspections
* Lack of proper hand washing by employees
* Meat, poultry and dairy products not kept at low temperature
* Cooked foods not kept at a high temperature
* Employees without proper food-handling permits
* No one on the premise with a food manager’s certificate
* Water for dishwashing is not hot enough
* Sanitizer bucket (for dish cloths) with incorrect ammonia to water ratio
* Lack of hot water, soap or paper towels in the restroom

What you can do at home
Preparation:
* Always wash hands before and after handling food.
* Don’t cross-contaminate. Keep raw meat, poultry, fish, and their juices away from other food. After cutting raw meats, wash hands, cutting board, knife, and counter tops with hot, soapy water.
* Marinate meat and poultry in a covered dish in the refrigerator.
* Sanitize cutting boards by using a solution of 1 teaspoon chlorine bleach in 1 quart of water.
Thawing:
* Refrigerator: The refrigerator allows slow, safe thawing. Make sure thawing meat and poultry juices do not drip onto other food.
* Cold water: For faster thawing, place food in a leak-proof plastic bag. Submerge in cold tap water. Change the water every 30 minutes. Cook immediately after thawing.
Leftovers:
* Discard any food left out at room temperature for more than two hours (1 hour if the temperature was above 90 degrees F).
* Use cooked leftovers within four days.