How to prevent food poisoning?

Food poisoning is something that many of us would have gone through or would have at least seen someone close to us go through this. Take it from us; it’s not a pretty picture. You might ask what is this and how does this happen? Well, it is a disease or illness that occurs when you consume food that is contaminated, rotten, or spoiled. Most common symptoms of this disease are vomiting, diarrhoea, and nausea. You might be thinking is food the only culprit here? No, of course not! It is the bacteria, viruses, and other parasites. At times, it becomes very uncomfortable and might cause a life threatening condition. For those of you, who have gone through this, would really wish that there was a way to prevent it. Well, we have come up with some ways through which you can protect yourselves.

Clean the worktops

Make sure that you are not missing out on washing the worktops. The place where you prepare food should be completely clean. Using a disinfectant spray that goes with your surface is an ideal solution. If the worktop has been touched by uncooked or raw food including but not limited to vegetables, meat, eggs, and fish, then you should clean it right away. If you don’t have a disinfectant available then soapy water is fine.

Wash your hands and keep raw food separate

One of the most important things is to wash your hands. Always assure that you are washing hands with bar soap and water before and after preparation of food. After you have touched raw or uncooked food, germs might get on to your hands without you even noticing, so don’t miss out on washing hands. Another mistake that we commonly make is to use the same chopping boards for cooked and uncooked food. This is something that should be avoided at all costs. Mixing cooked and raw food might help germs get into your body right away.

Wash and dry kitchen cloths

When it comes to storage of food, make sure that you are not mixing the two i.e. raw meat and ready to eat foods. Ready to eat foods won’t be prepared again before consuming therefore care should be taken as to avoid contamination. Washing tea towels and dishcloths also helps to avoid contamination. Dirty and damp cloths are the perfect place for germs to breed and we surely don’t want that.

Don’t serve undercooked food

One of the main reasons for food poisoning is uncooked food and food that has not been properly cooked. Eggs, fish, meat, all of these products require complete cooking time before serving. If any of it is left uncooked or raw, then bacteria can easily grow and cause illness when you consume. Another tip is to put the raw meat at the bottom of the fridge. Always make sure that you are washing hands before and after handling raw meat, be it with a soap or liquid hand wash.

Don’t forget

There are going to be times when you are out and about and you’ll need a quick bite. At times like this, it’s important to not forget the importance of hand hygiene. Use instant hand sanitizer or if you have water and soap available then wash hands with soap and water. Contaminated hands can surely be the doorway of germs entering in your body and making you sick. Also don’t ever forget to check labels. Always use in-date food and never expired ones. If you have leftovers in your fridge, be quick to cook and consume them. Don’t let them sit for days and then eat it because bacteria can happily grow on such foods. Another tip is to ensure that your fridge is working below 5 degree centigrade. This would stop the bacterial growth in its tracks and help you keep a healthy environment within the fridge.

If you are going to follow all these tips, then you’d surely be preventing food poisoning. These are some of the ways through which you can keep yourself and your loved ones safe. Let us know if you still have any questions, we’ll be more than happy to help you out.