Food Safety Temperature Guide

It is very important to store food at certain temperatures as food spoil rapidly above 40 degrees F. Previous, many people used to let their food cool off before putting it in the refrigerator. However, now with a better understanding on food safety, we should know that it is very important to put it in a covered container immediately and put it in the refrigerator. Below is the food safety temperature guide on how food reacts at certain temperatures.

Degrees F	Function	Remarks
240^o - 250^o	Canning temperature for low acid vegetables, meat and poultry in pressure canner
212^o	Canning temperatures for fruits, tomatoes, and pickles in water-bath canner.
165^o	Cooking temperatures that will destroy most bacteria. As temperature increases, time required to destroy bacteria will decreases.
140^o	Warm temperatures which will prevent bacteria growth but will allow some to survive.
125^o	Temperature where most bacteria will survive. Some bacterial growth may even occur.	Danger Zone. Do not keep food in this temperature range for more than 2 hours.
60^o	Temperatures which will allow rapid growth of bacteria and the production of toxins by some bacteria.
40^o	Some bacterial which causes food-poisoning may occur.
32^o	Cold temperature which permit a slow growth of some bacteria that can cause food spoilage.
0^o	Freezing temperature will stop most bacterial growth. But may also allow some bacteria to survive. Do not store food above 10 degrees F for more than a few weeks).