Healthy food practices start with shopping:

• Buy cold or frozen food at the end
  of your shopping trip.


• Keep your raw meat, poultry, fish
  and seafood away from other food in the shopping cart.


• If you use reusable grocery bags
  or bins, make sure to use a specific bag or bin for meat, poultry or
  seafood. Label the bag or bin with the type of food it carries.

One very important thing to keep in mind is to always keep cold food cold and hot food hot, to avoid having
the food reach the "temperature danger zone"; this is the perfect
medium for bacteria to quickly grow and multiply, leading to food poisoning.

As a rule of thumb, uncured raw meat lasts safely for about
three days in the refrigerator. If you are planning to keep uncooked meat
longer, then it is better to freeze it. Meat should be sealed in an airtight
package (like a zip-lock bag) before freezing. This will allow you to keep it
frozen for a few months.

• Keep your raw meat, poultry, and
  fish/seafood cold. Refrigerate or freeze them as soon as you get them
  from the grocery store.


• Make sure your refrigerator is set
  at 4 °C or lower, and your freezer at -18 °C or lower. This will keep your
  food out of the temperature danger zone between 4 °C to 60 °C, which favors
  bacterial growth.


• Keep your raw meat, poultry, fish
  and seafood separate from other food in the refrigerator at home. Do this
  by storing them in different containers.


• Place raw meat, poultry, fish and
  seafood in sealed containers or plastic bags on the bottom shelf of your
  refrigerator so raw juices won't drip onto other food.


• Store raw meat, poultry and fish/seafood
  in the following top to bottom order in your fridge:




• Fish – whole


• Beef and pork – whole cuts


• Fish and meats – ground


• Poultry – whole and ground

A general guide on how long basic meats
can be kept safely –as long as they are stored properly:

In the Refrigerator

·        
uncooked
poultry: one to two days

·        
uncooked
ground meat: one to two days

·        
uncooked
steaks or chops: three to four days

·        
uncooked
fish: one to two days

·        
cooked
poultry, meat, or fish: three to four days

In the Freezer

·        
uncooked
poultry: nine months (pieces) to one year (whole)

·        
uncooked
ground beef: three to four months

·        
uncooked
steaks or chops: four to 12 months, depending on the item

·        
uncooked
fish: six months

·        
cooked
meat, poultry, or fish: two to six months

Here is a
link to a document by the food and drugs administration (FDA) on safe storage
of meats: http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/FoodborneIllnessContaminants/UCM109315.pdf">http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/FoodborneIllnessContaminants/UCM109315.pdf</a>