Buying tips and safe handling of meats

The food and agriculture industry works very hard to guarantee quality meats to consumers. Rigorous controls are imposed on all stages of production, including breeding, slaughter, processing and marketing. Still, there are risks of bacteria contamination between the time meats are purchased until the time they are prepared and cooked. This is why it is important to be vigilant and observe certain basic rules to cook safely!

In your METRO supermarket

• Purchase your meat last, in order to reduce the amount of time the meat is not refrigerated.
• Choose very cold and well-wrapped packaged meats, verify the date of packaging and the best-before date indicated on the label.
• In your grocery basket, place poultry in a plastic bag or put it in an area where the juice cannot drain on any other food.
• Meats and poultry should be kept in separate bags away from other grocery items.

In your refrigerator

• Keep meats at 0-4° C (32-40° F), or freeze meats and poultry as soon as you arrive from the store. They should never be out of the fridge for more than two hours.
• In the refrigerator, keep raw food away from cooked food.
• Freeze ground meats if they are not going to be cooked the same day. Other cuts can be frozen after two or three days.
• To ensure that your fridge is cold enough, place a refrigerator thermometer near the door and check the temperature regularly. Adjust as needed.
• For more information about the storage life of various meats, visit the relevant sections.

In the kitchen

• Wash utensils, tools, equipment and working surfaces frequently and carefully.
• The safest way to clear working surfaces and utensils is to wash with warm soapy water with a few added drops of Javex bleach.
• Separate raw foods from cooked food to avoid any cross-contamination from the working surface, the cutting board, any juice drainage, manipulation … For example: never re-use the plate that carried raw meat to place the cooked meat on.
• Always cook food properly, until it reaches the recommended internal temperature.
• Wash your hands with soap and water before manipulating food and every time there is a risk of contamination: if you have manipulated raw meat, if you’ve touched an animal, if you’ve sneezed…

Defrosting safely

• Never defrost meat or poultry at room temperature. This will cause bacteria to multiply at the surface of the meat,even if the inside is still frozen.
• The safest method is to defrost meat in the refrigerator at 0-° C (32-40° F).
• Calculate 8-12 hours per kilo (4-6 hours per pound) of meat.
• Place the wrapped frozen meat in a plate on the bottom shelf of your fridge.
• For poultry, pierce small holes on the bottom of the wrapping, put on a plate and set on the bottom shelf of your fridge.
• You can also defrost meats in the microwaves, but when this method is used, the meat should be cooked immediately after defrosting.