All of us want our families to be safe and healthy. However, a small error in the way we do things and prepare a meal can sometimes result in serious illness. A small number of microorganisms, such as Salmonella, in undercooked foodstuff is enough to induce food poisoning. Avoid these frequent food safety blunders to keep your family safe.

⇒ Eating risky foods if you are more likely to get food poisoning

Food poisoning can affect anyone. However, some people are more susceptible to being ill and developing a more serious condition. This also includes:

• Adults aged 65 and older
• Children younger than 5 years
• People who have health problems or who take medicines that lower the body’s ability to fight germs and sickness (weakened immune systems)
• Pregnant women

What you can do: People who are more susceptible to food poisoning should avoid the following foods:

• Undercooked or raw animal products (such as meat, chicken, turkey, eggs, or seafood)
• Raw or lightly cooked sprouts
• Unpasteurized (raw) milk and juices
• Soft cheese, unless it is labelled as made with pasteurized milk.

⇒ Eating without washing your hand

Germs on your hands can get on food and make it unsafe.

What you can do: Always wash hand properly for 20 seconds with soap and running water before eating any meal. Hands should be washed before, during, and after food preparation, eating, and using the restroom or changing a child’s diaper.

⇒Not cleaning fruits and vegetables before peeling them

Germs may be present on the peeling or skin of fruits and vegetables. When you cut or peel fruits and vegetables, it’s simple to transfer germs to the interior.

What you can do: Wash all fruits and vegetables under running water. Scrub firm fruits and vegetables like melons, avocados, and cucumbers with a clean vegetable brush.

⇒ Transferring cooked meat to a tray that previously contained raw meat

Germs from raw meat are on plate (in which it was kept) can transfer to cooked meat.

What you can do: Always put raw and cooked meat in separate plates. Chicken, turkey, and seafood are all subject to the same restrictions.

⇒ Failure to completely cook meat, poultry, turkey, shellfish, eggs etc

Cooked food is safe only once it has reached a temperature high enough to destroy bacteria.

⇒ Keeping food out too long before refrigerating it.

If you keep cooked food out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours, harmful germs can proliferate (including beef, chicken, turkey, shellfish, eggs, sliced fruit, cooked rice, and leftovers).

What you can do: Warm or hot food can be stored in the refrigerator as long as it is packaged in tiny enough portions to cool fast. Use any leftovers from the fridge within 2 days and do not reheat food more than once.

⇒ Not keeping your Fridge below 5ºC

If your fridge temperature is above 5°C, pathogenic germs may multiply and proliferate.

What you can do: Use a fridge thermometer to check the temperature of your fridge, which should be kept below 5 degrees Celsius. Avoid overfilling your refrigerator; if it’s too full, air won’t be able to circulate effectively, affecting the temperature. Refrigerator doors should not be left open unnecessarily.

Disclaimer: We do not offer any kind of medical advice in any form. The Blog is for informational purposes only. Kindly read our policies before reading the website content. Go to policies page – Click Here