aby, it's hot outside! We may not love the August heat, but do you know who does? Bacteria! That's right, bacteria, which can flourish in your food if you're not careful. Everywhere you look, there are bacterial dangers that could potentially send you to your sickbed for days. I know that food safety is not glamorous or exciting to read about, but it is very important. About 76 million Americans get infected with food-borne illnesses every year, and many of those infections are preventable. I know that your mother taught you to wash your hands before leaving the bathroom, but there are many other important measures that you should include in your eating and food preparation practices.

I love to eat just as much as you do, so you don't have to worry that I'll tell you that you can't eat your favorite foods. Can't live without sushi? There are a few ways to make it safer to eat. First, make sure your favorite place has an "A" grade posted on the door-that's not a food rating, it's a rating of compliance with the California food laws. If you've got a taste for "conveyor belt sushi," I would suggest you lose it and get in the habit of only eating fresh sushi that is prepared to order. Remember that those with weak immune systems, such as children and elderly adults, should avoid eating raw fish. Got a hankering for hamburgers? I get those sometimes, too. I don't eat them at restaurants, though. I head straight for the Gelson's meat department where I know our meat is hand-cut and then ground fresh daily in our stores, so the risk of E. coli contamination is extremely low, especially compared to meat that is ground at the slaughterhouse or other meat processing facility. When I cook at home, I have control over the handling and cooking of the meat, so I can use a thermometer to make sure the internal burger temperature reaches 155º Fahrenheit before I take it out of the oven.

Speaking of raw food, it's important to be mindful of bacteria in your own kitchen. When you bring raw meat, poultry, fish or eggs home from the market, you must store them on the bottom shelf of the fridge, preferably in plastic bags or in a bowl for extra protection. That way, if any liquids leak out they will not contaminate other foods below it. The same goes for defrosting previously frozen meat, fish, or poultry; defrost in the refrigerator ONLY and on a plate or dish placed on the bottom shelf. Don't even think of thawing on the countertop! What about cutting boards? If you put any raw meat, poultry or seafood on your cutting board, you must wash the board and any utensils used with it with hot soapy water before preparing any other food on it. It is also recommended that you sanitize your cutting boards with a chlorine bleach and water solution of two teaspoons of bleach mixed into one quart of water. Similarly, if you marinate or hold raw food on a plate, you may not reuse that same plate to put the cooked food on. You need a clean plate, otherwise there was no point to cooking the food. I think another common misstep happens in the marinating process. If you are marinating an animal protein, then you may cook the marinade with that food, but you cannot use the leftover marinade on the cooked food. You must use fresh marinade for serving.

Now brace yourself and smell your kitchen sponge. Is it stinky? Replace it, soak in the bleach-water solution, or throw it into the microwave for a minute or two to kill those smelly bacteria that would otherwise be contaminating your dishes, utensils, cooking equipment and cooking surfaces. Change your used dishtowels every few days to avoid any bacterial buildup-bacteria love the moist environments of sponges and dish towels!

Having a party or planning to attend one? There is a time limit on how long you can leave food out. If you plan to have leftovers, you must return food to the refrigerator within two hours of taking it out. If you're okay with throwing food away, then you can leave it out for up to four hours but you must throw any extras in the garbage. If you're attending a party, it's best to arrive on the early side to make sure any edibles will be fresh. As far as party etiquette goes, I've got to mention the famous "double dip." Please don't double dip. It spreads germs and bacteria to everyone else who shares your dip. Even if you're not sick, you could be carrying a virus or bacteria that could make others sick. If you see others double dipping, don't freak out, just replace the offended dip with a fresh one. If you know them, you can gently remind them about the dangers of double dipping.

Now it's time for my golden rule of food safety: When eating, behave as you would want others to behave around your food. You know your hands are clean so you swipe that strawberry off the top of the fruit platter with your fingers. How would you feel if you knew that strangers were doing the same thing to the food you were going to be eating? Their hands might not be as clean as yours. Please use only the serving utensils at a serve-yourself venue. I recently saw an entire family using their hands to get the chopped egg off of a pair of tongs at a buffet. Maybe their hands were clean and maybe they weren't. Either way, I alerted the manager and they had to throw out all of the eggs and replace them with fresh eggs and tongs.

My golden rule also applies to pets. Lately, I've seen a lot of people trying to take their dogs into restaurants. Although some restaurants allow dogs on their patios, the only live animals allowed inside of restaurants are service animals that are trained to assist their handicapped owners. Some dogs are not as clean as others and if you allow one dog in, you have to allow all of them in. What if a dirty dog came into a restaurant and shook some hair or slobber onto a stack of plates or some food? That could certainly spoil your dinner!

I know that I have already mentioned this before, but it's worth repeating: wash your hands with soap and water after visiting the toilet, before preparing food, after handling raw poultry, eggs, meat or fish, after blowing your nose, sneezing or coughing, and before eating. Proper hand washing can cut the incidence of food-borne illness in half if everyone did it properly (it could also protect you from colds, flus and other illnesses). Wash your hands with soap and warm water and count to 20, or sing "Happy Birthday" twice. Twenty seconds of scrubbing action is what's really important for removing dirt and bacteria. Dry your hands with a clean towel to avoid re-contaminating your hands.

I'm not trying to turn you into a Type-A germaphobe, I'm simply reminding you about the important practices that you probably already know but don't always take the time to do. Recently, I've noticed a lot of sloppy behavior on the part of the public and I know that these little slip-ups can be exacerbated by the summer heat (I don't even want to get started on picnic practices!). These extra steps might take a little while to get used to, but if they can prevent you or your family from being one of the unfortunate 76 million this year, then every extra step will be worth it.