Our food comes from all over the world. What can you do to ensure that the food on your table is safe to eat. Nutritionist Kohila Govindaraju offers food safety tips on World Health Day.
Take a look at the food on your plate. It can lead to pleasure and health, or it can make you very ill. Every year, food- and water-borne diarrheal diseases kill 2.2 million people worldwide, many of them children (http://www.who.int/foodsafety/areas_work/foodborne-diseases/en/).
Foodborne diseases are caused by harmful bacteria, viruses and parasites that fester in food that is improperly produced and handled. The diseases include cholera, salmonella, E. coli, Hepatitis A, botulism, listeria and many more. Eating contaminated food is a major health hazard that may require hospitalisation and can be fatal for vulnerable people like the elderly, young children, pregnant women and those whose immunity is compromised.
You can protect yourself and your loved ones by ensuring hygienic practices in your kitchen. Here’s what you need to keep in mind:
Safe shopping tips
• Choose fresh and healthy looking foods.
• It’s important to buy your produce from a trusted shop as some fruits and veggies are artificially ripened or coloured with chemicals and additives. Find out more in our article Is Your Salad Bowl a Health Hazard? http://www.patientsengage.com/?q=healthy-living/your-salad-bowl-health-hazard
• Read food labels to check the expiry date and ingredients of the product.
• Buy meat and poultry at the end of the shopping trip.
• Make sure that raw meat, poultry and seafood are securely packed and their juices don't drip onto other ingredients. Keep the packages of raw meat and poultry in a separate section of the trolley, away from other foods to prevent contamination.
Safe refrigeration
• Your fridge should be set at 40°F /5°C and the freezer at 0° F / -18° C to prevent bacterial multiplication in food.
• As soon as you return from the market, wash meat, poultry and fish (brought from the wet market; ie not packaged) and place immediately in the freezer in separate food containers. Freeze prawns with shell and head intact as they act as insulator.
• The individual food containers should be approved for food storage. These should be washed thoroughly between use.
Tip: Do not reuse ziploc bags when storing fish, meat or poultry as these are difficult to rinse thoroughly.
• Put eggs in the fridge as soon as you return from the market. If you leave eggs at room temperature for more than 2 hours, you run the risk of salmonella infection.
Before you start cooking
Start with a clean and uncluttered kitchen. This energises the cook and promises healthy meals.
Always defrost food in the microwave or place in the refrigerator section overnight, or under running water. Do not leave meat and poultry on the kitchen counter for hours as this provides an opportunity for bacteria to multiply.
• Keep marinated food in the refrigerator. Add lemon juice to the marinade; this will help soften the tissue and also kill germs.
• Remove and discard the outermost leaves of greens like lettuce or cabbage
• Cut away bruised areas of fruits and vegetables as bacteria can enter through any opening and contaminate the whole fruit. Similarly, do not buy fruit whose skin is damaged.
• Wash all produce in running water, thoroughly.
Tip: Do not leave vegetables like mushroom or celery to soak in water as this will lead to loss of water-soluble vitamins like Vitamins C and B.
• Before you start cooking, wash your hands with soap and warm water.
• Prevent cross contamination by keeping raw and cooked food separate. Even well cooked food gets contaminated when allowed to stand with raw foods.
• Scrub the chopping board with soap and water before you start chopping.
• Use separate chopping boards for meats and vegetables. Microbes gets transferred from one food to another if the same knife, cutting board or utensil is used without thorough washing. After you’ve washed or chopped meat, wash the board, knife, utensil and your hands throughly before handling vegetables.
Cook food thoroughly
• Cooking food at 165°F/ 74°C kills germs.
• Ensure eggs are fully cooked. Eggs need to be cooked until the yolk is firm.
• Boil water or fresh milk for at least 5 minutes to kill germs.
• Consider getting a kitchen thermometer with which you can check the internal temperature of roasted meats.
• Once the cooked food has cooled, store in the fridge. Do not leave for hours on kitchen counter as that will allow micro-organisms to breed. Better still, cook food an hour before dinner time and eat it straight away.
• When you are reheating food, be sure to heat to a high temperature (165°F/ 74°C) .
Soups and curries should be boiling. Spread the food evenly, add water, if required, and reheat with the lid on.
Cleaning up
• It’s very important to place fruit and vegetable peels, leftovers from plates and other garbage in a closed container that is emptied regularly so as not to attract flies and other organisms that spread disease. Wash your hand after throwing away the garbage bag.
• Bacteria often lurks in hand towels, dishwashing sponges and sink scrubbers. Microwave damp towels and sponges for 1 minute to kill germs. Place sink scrubbers in the dish washer. Change the sponge frequently.
• Sanitise the fridge once a month – add 1 teaspoon of bleach to 1 quart of water and wipe.
• When cleaning the kitchen, make sure that all chemicals, like bleach, cleansing solutions, dishwashing liquids are washed away completely from cooking surfaces.
If these get into your food, they can make you very ill.
Other tips
• Drink water from a safe source. In some countries that means boiling water or installing water purifying devices.
• When making juices, clean fruits thorougly before juicing and once ready, drink the juice immediately. Citrus juice tends to last longer than apple, peaches, bananas or pear juices that oxidise faster.
• You can refrigerate the juice the moment it is ready, in a sterilised container, but not for more than 8 hours.
• When heating food in a microwave, use microwave-friendly glass and ceramic containers, not plastic. Plastic containers, when used repeatedly, will leach chemicals into the food.
http://www.qcin.org/nbqp/qualityindia/Vol-3-No2/food_certification.php
