Home-cooked meals evoke a certain sense of comfort, nostalgia, and even safety. But while meals prepared by family, friends, and community members may be delicious, "made with love" does not inherently mean "made without Salmonella" or other pathogens that can cause food poisoning. Pathogenic bacteria can be brought into the home on raw foods—such as poultry, fruits and vegetables, and others—that consumers purchase from the grocery store and then spread unknowingly around the kitchen through improper food handling and preparation procedures, which can lead to foodborne illness.
Food safety teams at food production and processing companies work to eliminate these pathogenic threats to home kitchens; however, as a microbiologist will say, "There is no such thing as zero risk" from pathogenic bacteria in the food supply. The reality is that home kitchens are not as hygienic as we would like or assume them to be. However, we can reduce risks in our home kitchens by providing people with solid science, education, and communication about home food safety.