Good Clean Food

Every fresh item you bring home from the grocery store carries naturally occurring bacteria - and potentially pesticides and even other people's germs - that can make you sick.

As a matter of fact, Americans contract an estimated 76 million cases of food poisoning each year.

The good news is that most food-related illness can be prevented if you wash your food properly and keep your kitchen clean.

"Every food has naturally occurring bacteria. Your job is to get it ready and clean," Susan Westmoreland tells The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen. Westmoreland is the food director at the Good Housekeeping Institute.

Many people worry about the germs found on raw meats. But the amount of illness associated with fresh produce has been increasing over the last few years. As a matter of fact, experts think at least one-third of all food poisonings are now from produce - not fish or meat. If you feel ill after eating a burger, there's a good chance the culprit is your lettuce or tomato, not the ground beef.

So here are a few tips to keep you healthy:

Wash Hands for 20 Seconds: Hands easily spread contaminates, so before you do anything else in the kitchen wash your hands with hot soapy water. Wash for at least 20 seconds - the same amount of time it takes to sing two rounds of Happy Birthday.

Rinse Under Running Water: Of course, you need to wash all fruits and vegetables that you plan to eat. Washing under running water is much better than dunking in standing water. Running water acts as an abrasive, literally wiping germs from your food. It's easiest to place delicate items such as berries in a colander and allow the water to run over them.

It's not necessary to use soap. Westmoreland also does not recommend buying the produce washes that are available on store shelves. Plain running water is just as effective.

UseA Scrub Brush When Possible: Westmoreland suggests scrubbing fruits and vegetables that are a little sturdier, such as carrots and potatoes, with a scrub brush to further remove the germs which stubbornly stick in the tiny nooks and crannies of the skins.

Even foods that you plan to peel need to be washed first. Think about it, as you cut through a cantaloupe what's the first thing the knife will touch? The outside rind where all of the germs live. As you continue through the rind and to the melon's inside, the knife will carry the germs from the outside and contaminate the entire fruit.

As for organic food, you need to be as careful as with conventional foods. Although organic foods will not carry pesticides, they do harbor the same naturally occurring bacteria that can make you ill.

Wash Immediately Before Eating/Cooking: Moisture introduced hours or days before cooking causes food to deteriorate faster.

Blot Dry With Paper Towel: Drying your produce with a paper towel has been proven to dramatically reduce the number of germs that remain on fruits and vegetables after washing.

Cut Out Bruised Sections Last: If there's a soft spot on your apple or cucumber, follow all of the above steps and then cut out the bruised section. If you cut it away first you run the risk of spreading that bacteria to other parts of the food.

If you buy pre-bagged lettuces, salads, baby carrots or other produce that claims to be "pre-washed" you really can trust that they are clean, Westmoreland says. You do not need to bother to re-wash these items.

However, you do need to be careful when you buy these items. Make sure they are from the refrigerated section of the store. Cut vegetables - such as those purchased for stir-frys or those you cut up to serve with a dip - are prone to germs. Along these lines, don't eat sliced fruits and vegetables that have been unrefrigerated for two hours or longer. Many people instinctively steer clear of vegetable dip that has been sitting on a party table all night, but assume that the vegetables themselves are OK. That's not true and you may get ill if you eat don't follow the two-hour rule.

And when preparing chicken and other meats, the most important thing to remember is "don't cross contaminate."