Generally, keep your refrigerator as cold as you can without freezing your milk or lettuce. Freeze fresh meat, poultry or fish immediately if you can't use it within a few days. Put packages of raw meat, poultry or fish on plates before refrigerating so their juices won't drip on other food. Raw juices often contain bacteria. Always wash your hands in warm soapy water before preparing food.
Bacteria can live in kitchen towels, sponges and cloths.
Wash these often. Keep raw meat, poultry and fish and their juices away from other food. Wash your hands, cutting board and knife in hot, soapy water after cutting up chicken and raw meat and before using the utensils for other food. Thaw food in the refrigerator, microwave or oven, not on the kitchen counter. At room temperature, bacteria can grow in the outer layers of food before the inside thaws.