The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service offers the following advice to avoid contracting life-threatening illness from spoiled foods:

Clean: Wash hands often with soap and warm water. Use clean dishes, spoons, knives, and forks. Wash countertops with hot soapy water and clean up spills right away.

Separate: Keep raw meat, fish, and poultry away from other food that will not be cooked.

Cook: Cook food to a safe minimum internal temperature. Check with a food thermometer. Ground beef = 160-degrees Fahrenheit, Pork = 160-degrees Fahrenheit, Poultry = 165-degrees Fahrenheit.

Chill: Refrigerate or freeze within two-hours, refrigerate or freeze within one-hour in hot weather (above 90-degrees Fahrenheit). Don't leave meat, fish, poultry, or cooked food out.

To keep food safe:

Bacteria can grow in the refrigerator. Keep the refrigerator temperature at 40-degrees Fahrenheit or lower, and the freezer zero-degrees Fahrenheit or lower.

Clean up all spills in the refrigerator right away -- especially juices from hot dog packages or raw meat, chicken and turkey.

Clean the inside walls and shelves of the refrigerator with hot water and liquid soap, then rinse.

Use precooked or ready-to-eat food as soon as you can. Don't store it in the refrigerator too long.

Wash your hands after you touch hot dogs, raw meat, chicken, turkey, and seafood (including their juices).

For more information on ensuring food safety, visit www.fsis.usda.gov or call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at (888) MPHOTLINE/674-6854, TTY: (800) 256-7072.

Green furniture and upholstery are becoming readily available in the marketplace.

Green mattresses, for example, are manufactured from organic cotton, pure grown wood, natural latex, coir (coconut fiber), and/or horsehair. They are breathable, but not water resistant. Natural pads are available to absorb liquids and keep mattresses clean.

Naturally produced green mattresses are said to aid in body temperature regulation and improve sleep quality.

How is green furniture different than what we are used to?

• Has lower impact on the environment – uses recycled wood, plastic and fibers.
• Comes from natural materials and sustainable resources and that are harvested and managed without pesticides, herbicides or any other chemicals.
• Free from toxic chemicals and dyes used in manufacturing.
• Free from harmful gassing which is present in certain vinyl, glues, and resins.
• Often use soy-based glues, dyes, and paints that contain no volatile organic compounds.
• Linens can be made from natural fibers such as cotton, hemp, and wool.

Based on information from Mark Lazar, "The Green Guru," owner of Lazar's Furniture, Lincolnwood, Illinois.