Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Food Safety
Safe steps in food handling, cooking, and storage can prevent foodborne illness. There are four basic steps to food safety at home:
- Clean - always wash your fruits and vegetables, hands, counters, and cooking utensils.
- Separate - keep raw foods to themselves. Germs can spread from one food to another.
- Cook - foods need to get hot and stay hot. Heat kills germs.
- Chill - put fresh food in the refrigerator right away.
In the grocery store, avoid cans that are bulging or jars that have cracks or loose lids. Check packages to be sure food hasn't reached its expiration date.
United States Department of Agriculture
It sits within Food and Nutrition, Poisoning, Toxicology, Environmental Health and Safety Issues.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Food Safety
913 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Safety and Food Effect on Single-Dose Bioavailability of F-02-2-Na in Healthy Adult SubjectsGuangdong Hengqin Novagains Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
- A Phase I Study in Healthy Volunteers and Parkinson's Disease (PD) Patients.Mission Therapeutics
- Phase 1 Study of OLX-07010 in Healthy Adult and Elderly ParticipantsOligomerix, Inc
- Microbiome-Focused Food Supplement for Evaporative Dry Eye Due to Meibomian Gland DysfunctionVarol TUNALI
- Single and Multiple Dose Study to Evaluate Safety and Pharmacokinetics of BMS-986533 in Healthy Participants and Assessments of Food and pH Effects on Relative Bioavailability, and Drug-Drug Interaction Potential in Healthy ParticipantsBristol-Myers Squibb
- Safety Study of Viaskin® Peanut Patch in Peanut-Allergic Children 1 Through 3 Years of Age (COMFORT Toddlers)DBV Technologies
Research already completed
- A Single and Multiple Ascending Doses, Relative Bioavailability, Food Effect, and Drug-Drug Interaction Study of NX-5948 in Healthy VolunteersNurix Therapeutics, Inc.
- A Single and Multiple Ascending Dose Study to Evaluate the Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of GNS-3545 in Healthy ParticipantsGenosco Inc.
- Trial on Single/Multiple Ascending Doses for Safety, PK and PD for CBP-0276 in Healthy SubjectsClarent Biopharma, Inc.
- A Study to Evaluate the Effect of Food on the Pharmacokinetic Characteristics and Safety Profile of AD-117 in Healthy Adult VolunteersAddpharma Inc.
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- About Four Steps to Food SafetyCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
- Are You Storing Food Safely?Food and Drug Administration
- Cold Food Storage ChartDepartment of Health and Human Services
- Food Safety at HomeFood and Drug Administration
- Keep Food Safe! Food Safety BasicsDepartment of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service
- Preventing Food PoisoningNational Institutes of Health
Related Issues
- About Escherichia coli InfectionCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
- Chemicals in Meat Cooked at High Temperatures and Cancer RiskNational Cancer Institute
- Drug Resistance, Food, and Food AnimalsCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
- Eating Out & Bringing In - Food Safety for Moms to BeFood and Drug Administration
- Fires and Food SafetyDepartment of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service
- Flour Is a Raw Food and Other Safety FactsFood and Drug Administration
- Freezing and Food SafetyDepartment of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service
- High Altitude Cooking and Food SafetyDepartment of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service
- How Safe Are Color Additives?Food and Drug Administration
- Intentional Genomic Alterations in Animals: Q&A for ConsumersFood and Drug Administration
- Is Food Safe if It Has Chemicals?Food and Drug Administration
- Keep Food Safe after a Disaster or EmergencyCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
- Keep Your Food Safe During Emergencies: Power Outages, Floods, and FiresDepartment of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service
- Kitchen ThermometersDepartment of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service
- Recalls, Market Withdrawals and Safety AlertsFood and Drug Administration
- Refrigeration and Food SafetyDepartment of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Food SafetyNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Food Safety. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Food Safety, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.