Easy steps to reduce foodborne illnesses
To prevent and avoid foodborne illnesses (food poisoning), proper food handling and preparation is essential.
"Food poisoning" is a term used to describe a foodborne sickness.
Bacteria and viruses including Salmonella, norovirus, Clostridium perfringens, Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus are the most common causes of foodborne illness.
Anyone who consumes unsafe food is susceptible to foodborne disease.
Pregnant women, the elderly, and persons with chronic conditions are more prone to become infected as a result of contaminated food.
Symptoms might range from moderate to severe. Upset stomach, abdominal pains, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and dehydration are all common symptoms.
To reduce foodborne illness, follow these steps: clean, separate, cook and chill.
1) Clean
Germs can survive in your hands, utensils, and cutting boards for a long time.
• Wash your hands every 20 seconds with soap and water, cleaning the backs of your hands, between fingers, and beneath nails. Make careful to wash your hands after handling raw meat every time to avoid cross contamination.
• Wash surfaces and utensils with soap and hot water after each usage.
• Make sure fruits and veggies are clean before peeling.
• Avoid washing meat and poultry, to prevent the splash and spread of bacteria from raw meat and poultry juices to other foods, utensils, and surfaces.
2) Separate
Germs are spread by cross-contamination, so Keep Raw Meats and Ready-to-Eat Foods Separate.
Cross-contamination happens when raw meat juices or germs from unclean objects gets in contact with cooked or ready-to-eat meals like fruits or salads.
• Use two separate cutting boards: one for raw meat, poultry, fish, and seafood, and another for ready-to-eat meals.
• Use Plastic bags to store raw fish, seafood, meat, and poultry.
• Keep raw fish, meat, poultry and seafood separate from other foods in your shopping basket and bags.
• Refrigerate raw fish, seafood, pork, and poultry on a shelf beneath ready-to-eat goods.
• Clean your reusable grocery bags on a regular basis. Canvas and cotton bags should be washed in the washing machine, whereas plastic reusable bags should be washed in hot, soapy water.
3) Cook
Cook to the proper Temperatures
• To eliminate any potentially hazardous bacteria, prepare fish, seafood, meat, poultry, and eggs to the required safe minimum internal temperature.
• Use a food thermometer to ensure that food is prepared to safe degrees and that any cooked food is preserved at safe temperatures until eaten.
• The food thermometer should be placed in the thickest section of the food, not touching bone, fat, or gristle.
4) Chill
Refrigerate until ready to use on temperatures of 40 degrees Fahrenheit or Less
• Cold foods should be kept at 40°F or lower.
• Foods that have been in the danger zone of 40 to 140°F for more than two hours (one hour if the temperature is above 90°F) are no longer safe to eat.
• The two-hour shopping window includes the time food is in the grocery cart, in the car, and on the kitchen counter.
• Any germs existing before freezing can begin to multiply as soon as frozen food begins to thaw and becomes warmer than 40°F.
• Thaw items in one of three safe ways: (1) in the refrigerator, (2) in cold water (such as in a leak-proof bag with cold water changed every 30 minutes), or (3) in the microwave. Food should never be thawed on the counter.
• Maintain a temperature of 40°F or lower in your refrigerator and 0°F or lower in your freezer.
