My 6-year-old loves to lend a hand (and a mouth) in the kitchen. The cooking classes I enrolled her in paid off in a big way, as her culinary skills are quite advanced for someone her age.
Still, she has a way to go before she can whip up a five-course meal for the entire family unassisted. What’s more, she is still learning the finer points of food safety. If your kids like to assist with meal preparation, don’t let the opportunity to teach them basic health and safety tips pass you by.
For example, my first grader already knows the 2-2-4 Leftover Rule:
2 Hours from oven to refrigerator: Refrigerate or freeze leftovers within 2 hours of cooking the food. Otherwise throw it away.
2 Inches thick to cool it quick: Store food at a shallow depth – about 2 inches – to speed chilling.
4 Days in the refrigerator max: Eat refrigerated leftovers within 4 days, except stuffing and gravy, which should be used within 2 days.
Seems like a strange thing to teach a 6-year-old, right?
I would have thought the same thing if it weren’t for the fact that my own father neglected to follow the 2-2-4 Leftover Rule and ended up taking a trip to the ER as a result. Now our entire family adheres to the simple, yet effective rule.
The other reason I felt compelled to write on this subject is that a recent study by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health shows that most home kitchens would fail a standard cleanliness test. The LACDPH study found that 1 in 7 of the 13,000 adults surveyed about their kitchens don’t know how to clean properly, and therefore they put their children and themselves at risk for food-borne illness.
Some of the survey questions included:
Are your shelves and cabinets completely dust-free?
Does your refrigerator have a working thermometer?
Do you take off your jewelry and cut your nails really short before you cook?
Is your kitchen free of flies, cockroaches and rodents?
If you don’t think having a clean kitchen is important, consider that each year, there are an estimated 87 million cases of food-borne illnesses in the United States alone, according to the LACDPH. In addition, more than 350,000 of those cases result in hospitalization and nearly 6,000 people die from their illnesses.
Makes you want to teach your kids how to clean properly too.
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