Food Safety & Allergens

1. A shared responsibility

We prepare your meals in your home kitchen, with your equipment, and we follow safe food handling practices while we work: clean hands and surfaces, separate boards for raw meat and produce, and keeping cold food cold.

Once we leave, your meals are in your care. How they're stored, thawed and cooked matters as much as how they were prepped, so please follow the instructions on each meal label and in your account, and the guidance below.

2. Storing your meals

• Keep your refrigerator at 40°F or below and your freezer at 0°F. An inexpensive appliance thermometer is worth it.
• Put meals in the fridge or freezer right away. Perishable food shouldn't sit out more than 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F).
• Check the label. Every meal is labeled with its prep date and a cook-by or best-by date. Cook fridge meals first, in date order.
• Keep raw meat meals on the bottom shelf of the fridge so nothing can drip onto other food.
• Freezer meals stay safe indefinitely at 0°F. For the best taste and texture, cook them within 3 months.

Easy prep meals in the fridge

We use the shorter time on your labels, since a dish may include ground meat. If you won't get to a meal in time, freeze it before its cook-by date. When in doubt, throw it out.

3. Thawing safely

• In the refrigerator is safest: usually 12 to 24 hours. Set the bag on a plate or tray to catch drips.
• In cold water for a faster thaw: keep the bag sealed and submerged, change the water every 30 minutes, and cook right away.
• Never thaw on the counter or in warm water.
• Slow cooker meals with meat or poultry must be thawed first. A slow cooker heats too gradually to safely start with frozen meat. Some vegetarian soups and beans can go in frozen, and the label will tell you when.
• Pressure cookers like the Instant Pot can cook some meals from frozen. Follow the meal's instructions.
• Food thawed in the refrigerator can be refrozen. Food thawed in cold water should be cooked before refreezing.

4. Cooking to a safe temperature

Cooking times are a guide. Ovens and slow cookers vary, so use a food thermometer in the thickest part.

Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and eat them within 3 to 4 days.

5. Allergens

You tell us about allergies and intolerances when you sign up, and you can update them any time in My tastes. We check every menu against them, read the labels of ingredients we buy or bring, and never knowingly include an ingredient you've told us to avoid.

We cannot guarantee any meal is allergen-free. We cook in your home kitchen with your cookware, utensils and pantry, along with tools, spices and staples we bring, any of which may have been in contact with allergens. Ingredient formulas also change without notice.

• Major allergens we track include milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and gluten, soy and sesame.
• Gluten-free and dairy-free versions swap in substitute ingredients. They are not made in an allergen-free facility and are not certified gluten-free or dairy-free.
• If you do your own shopping, please check labels on what you buy, since we work with the ingredients you provide.
• Severe allergies or celiac disease: please talk with us before subscribing so we can decide together whether our service is a safe fit for your household.
• Let us know before serving our food to guests, who may have allergies we don't know about.

6. If something seems off

If a meal looks, smells or tastes wrong, or wasn't kept cold, don't eat it. Contact us and we'll make it right as described in our Cancellation & Refund Policy. If anyone has an allergic reaction, seek medical help right away and call 911 in an emergency. This notice is part of our Terms of Service.

Questions

Reach us any time at hello@easyprepwithheather.com. We're a small, local business and we'd always rather talk something through than have anyone left unhappy.