Food safety has become a great concern to individuals as well as private and government agencies in recent times. It is estimated that every year around 30 percent of individuals in developed nations experience food-borne illnesses. In poorer nations, food-borne diseases claim the lives of millions of people every year, the most affected in this group are children. Food items are easily contaminated when exposed to flies. Microorganisms cause a lot of harm when they penetrate into our food items. In what manner would you be able to protect yourself and your family from the danger of food-borne illness? Here are some approaches to make your food safe.
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Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
Shop shrewdly
Except you grow your own food, your initial contact with food you consume would be at the general store or market. When you shop, there are some measures to ensure that your food items are safe:
a) When shopping, perishable food items should be handled with extreme care. If you are going to purchase foods that are kept in ice chests, then you ought to make them last in the rundown of items. This also goes for hot foods. It is advisable to keep them hot and fresh always.
b) Select fresh food: Always try to purchase fresh food. To do this, it means setting off to the market so early when the food items are still very fresh. Purchase fresh meats that are slaughtered the same day.
c) Continuously assess what you are purchasing. Check if the items are free from unusual smell. This goes also for natural products, vegetables, fish and meat. Always check the bundles of prewrapped food. Doing this gives you the opportunity to identify if the food is safe to buy. Microscopic organisms can easily contaminate foods that are not properly packaged. Always check for the expiration date of the food items.
Always pack securely
If you utilize a reusable shopping bag or plastic container, wash it out often times with hot soapy water. Convey meat and fish in divided containers or packs so they don't contaminate other food items. Pretty much as a specialist secures his patients by washing his hands, disinfecting his instruments, and keeping up a clean working room, you can safeguard your family by keeping yourself, your kitchen, and your food clean.
a) Wash your hands regularly! 80 percent of regular common maladies like normal cold and flu are brought about by unclean hands. So wash your hands with soap and water before cooking and most importantly, after visiting the toilet.
b) Always keep your kitchen clean. The kitchen is one of the spots where fecal microbes flourish. They can be found in wipe and dishcloths. Consequently, change dishcloths as often as possible and use soap water or disinfectant to clean kitchen surfaces.
c) Separate raw meat. To prevent the spread of microbes, seal or safely wrap all raw meat, poultry, and fish, and separate them from other food items. Use a different cutting board and knife for those foods, wash your cutting board and knife altogether with soap and hot water.
If you utilize a reusable shopping bag or plastic container, wash it out often times with hot soapy water. Convey meat and fish in divided containers or packs so they don't contaminate other food items. Pretty much as a specialist secures his patients by washing his hands, disinfecting his instruments, and keeping up a clean working room, you can safeguard your family by keeping yourself, your kitchen, and your food clean.
a) Wash your hands regularly! 80 percent of regular common maladies like normal cold and flu are brought about by unclean hands. So wash your hands with soap and water before cooking and most importantly, after visiting the toilet.
b) Always keep your kitchen clean. The kitchen is one of the spots where fecal microbes flourish. They can be found in wipe and dishcloths. Consequently, change dishcloths as often as possible and use soap water or disinfectant to clean kitchen surfaces.
c) Separate raw meat. To prevent the spread of microbes, seal or safely wrap all raw meat, poultry, and fish, and separate them from other food items. Use a different cutting board and knife for those foods, wash your cutting board and knife altogether with soap and hot water.
Prepare and store food carefully
When food preparation and storage go bad, it can be very harmful to people eating it. To avoid food-borne sickness, maximum care should be taken when preparing and storing foods.
a) Do not thaw meat at room temperature. Despite the fact that the middle of meat may in any case be frozen, the external layer of the meat could be in the risk zone between [4◦C and 60◦C] temperatures at which microscopic organisms multiply quickly. To prevent this, try to thaw food, especially meat in the fridge, in a microwave, or under cold water package that won't leak.
b) Cook properly. Thorough cooking kills pretty much of all harmful microorganisms. When cooking food, particularly soups and stews, verify that it achieves a temperature of no less than 70 degrees Celsius. Some foods, for example, poultry, need to be cooked to a higher temperature. Since it can be hard to judge the interior temperature of few dishes, numerous cooks utilize a meat thermometer.
c) Serve most dishes quickly in the wake of cooking. Cooked food should not be left at room temperature for a long time, so serve it promptly to prevent contamination and waste.
I do hope that these tips would go a long way in ensuring that you eat and stay healthy! I’m a real foodie, it doesn’t go wrong with me. I take my time to plan what I eat and I derive lots of fun preparing some of the dishes myself, so, the tips above have been put in practice in my own kitchen. I also visit good restaurants in Lagos when I don’t feel like cooking. I would also like to introduce you to hellofood, an online market-place for food ordering I discovered in Lagos recently. I heard about them from a radio station and decided to check how it works.
I typed www.hellofood.com.ng from my browser, entered my location and the restaurants in my area were displayed, enabling me to place my food order from my favourite restaurants; payment was made at the time of delivery. I think it is pretty cool as it reduces the stress of looking for what and where to eat, especially after a long day at work. The most interesting part is that you can download their mobile app and order your food just from your mobile phone.
I will be working on more tips for food and healthy living in the coming weeks, stay tuned!
Oh, Hello foods in 40 Countries??? Beautiful
ReplyDeleteI was once a customer @ Hello foods.
Amazing customer service and am glad to talk about a food store am so sure of.
Nice article by the way, but u didn't mention expiry date of items especially can foods. I almost used an expired sweet corn the other day at home. Thank God I checked.
I stated clearly to always check the expiration date of food items. It's is in shop shrewdly under the part C last sententce.
DeleteNice one
ReplyDeleteHealth is wealth. I think people need to read this post it really helps
ReplyDeletefood cosumed shuould be meticulously checked and colossal disadvantage of eating bad food could be dangerous. nice article
ReplyDeleteFood glorious food... This article is packed full of great tips for food hygiene and simple health and safety. Thanks Mazino
ReplyDeleteOh, I just saw it lol. Nice work. Am glued already
ReplyDeleteOnly few individuals actually do these. I hope we can all practice these good healthy habits
ReplyDeleteOnly few individuals actually do these. I hope we can all practice these good healthy habits
ReplyDeleteWashing hands is so basic yet we still have to remind ourselves to do it. Our hands carry most of the bacteria we spread around and eat, so this is the most important rule of all.
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely correct by safeguarding your family by keeping yourself clean and your kitchen, and your food as well. There is a saying that health is wealth.
ReplyDeleteWhen shopping I never thought about the packaging. We bring our own bags now I am going to wash and rotate them
ReplyDeleteThese tips are really practical but some people still tend to forgot it. The first one is a must specially for those who buy foods from wet and dry market.
ReplyDeleteThese are advice which are essential yet overlooked. Good reminder, especially for people who don't cook often!
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing the tips! proud to say (on behalf of my mum) that she's doing a good job in our kitchen to give us clean food! heh!
ReplyDeleteI've been doing my own groceries and meal not long ago and these advices and tips are surely helpful. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI am always very careful about food - if something in my fridge doesn't look right, I would rather not cook it at all. So far so good and my cooking seems to be a hit! :) Sim
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh. I am loving your blog! I am going to share it with my followers for certain! I work at PositivityInPain.net, and I think they'd LOVE this blog!
ReplyDeleteI so love your posts! Never forget to wash your hands. My mom's constant reminder! And yeah, aren't food great when served fresh? :-)
ReplyDeletei got brought up about food hygiene and its stuck to me ever since
ReplyDeleteThese are such amazing tips! I am going to implement it my life from today :)
ReplyDeleteThese are such amazing tips! I am going to implement it my life from today :)
ReplyDeleteThis is very helpful, we used to have a seminar with this one, The pack securely is my favorite thing. My wife and I are very careful in dealing with kitchen ware. Thank you for the information!
ReplyDeleteIt's best to buy fresh food and store them correctly. This would be much healthier and make food last longer.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if hello food works in my place though, but I would love the idea of ordering anything from my fave restos. I like how the tips you gave here are actually applicable and make so much sense!
ReplyDeleteGood tips but i am not sure if hello foods will work in our place.
ReplyDeleteI'm living on my own and sometimes the food that I would buy from the grocery would just get spoiled. Such a waste I know. Will apply these tips. :)
ReplyDeleteAll of these are excellent points that every person should observe in their home. We read all the time about food poisoning and trying these tips will save us from trouble.
ReplyDeleteEating fresh food is a must if you want to keep in good shape and stay healthy. I would love to try these practical approaches!
ReplyDeleteAll great pieced of advice for everyone especially for people with kids! It's always a must to be careful with what we eat :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing. I will definitely keep this in mind since we will be moving out of my parents' house soon.
ReplyDelete