Salads Containing Potentially Hazardous Food

Chicken, tuna, egg, pasta, and potato salads all have been known to cause foodborne-illness outbreaks. These salads are typically made from food that can easily support the rapid growth of microorganisms. Since they usually will not be cooked after preparation, there is no chance to kill microorganisms that could be introduced during preparation. Therefore, care must be taken to both control time and temperature and prevent cross-contamination when preparing these salads. Handle all ingredients with care and follow these precautions:

Make sure leftover meat and poultry have been properly cooked, held, cooled, and stored. Leftover meat and poultry should be discarded after seven days if stored at the refrigerator at 41F (5C) or lower. (Four days if stores at 45F [7C].) Salads made with these items should be discarded when this storage period expires.

Make sure foodhandlers wash their hands before preparing food and, if required by local health codes, have them wear clean, single-use gloves. Tongs, deli tissue, or other barriers can also be used to protect food.

Prepare other ingredients away from raw meat, seafood, and poultry. Always prepare raw vegetables using clean, sanitary equipment and utensils.

Leave food in the refrigerator until all ingredients are ready to be mixed. For example, don’t take out chicken and leave it on the prep table while you chop the vegetables.

Consider chilling all ingredients before making salads. Refrigerate unopened cans of tuna and jars of mayonnaise the day before you make tuna salad, for example. Consider chilling mixing bowls and utensils, too. Taking these steps will provide additional barriers that might prevent the growth of harmful microorganisms that could be present.

Prepare food in small batches. This will prevent large amounts of food from sitting out at room temperature for long periods of time, set a working time limit of twenty minutes and make sure you take out only enough ingredients to use within that time period. When time is up, refrigerate what you’ve made, then get ingredients to make more.

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