Understanding Food Poisoning and How to Prevent It
Food poisoning is very common in third world countries due to poor hygiene and lack of technology. You will see kids getting excited about having food outside, but their moms are always too scared, because they know what they have to deal with once they get home. But, immunity plays a major role in this aspect. You will notice that not all the people eating the same food and having a similar sort of diet get sick later on. But this is not something you can rely on. First, you need to know about the signs and symptoms of food poisoning.
Food poisoning is caused by eating food contaminated with bacteria or viruses. It causes diarrhea, vomiting, stomach ache which leads to dehydration and dizziness. If these symptoms stay for a long time, you should contact the doctor immediately because it can turn out to be fatal if not managed properly.
Following are a few ways of preventing food poisoning:
1. Wash Hands
This is the first thing that you teach a kid once he starts to eat on his own. This is important because it does not only save from food poisoning, but many other diseases. So, make this a habit and ensure that the others around you are doing it too which includes the person who is serving you food as well as the one cooking it.
2. Work Tops
Make sure what you wear while cooking is washed properly. Your clothes can get contaminated with blood of raw meat and fish. If these clothes are worn while cooking then they may ruin your food too.
3. Chopping Boards
Use separate chopping boards, and this thing is extremely important. Don’t use the same chopping board for cutting meat and slicing vegetables. Even after you wash the cutting board there is a chance that it stays contaminated with the blood from the raw meat because of the rough surface texture of the board thus one should totally avoid this.
4. Keep Raw Meat in a Different Place
Do not let the cooked food get contaminated with raw meat. You should always wash the meat and get rid of as much blood as possible and then store it in a box in a different portion of the refrigerator where you know it won’t come in contact with the cooked frozen food. Also ensure that while the uncooked raw meat is in the kitchen, do not let it come in contact with cooked food.
5. Bottom Shelf is the Best Option
When you put meat in the refrigerator, try putting it in the bottom corner. The reason behind this is that the water present in the recently washed raw meat can get contaminated with blood and may drip on the floor of the freezer or a refrigerator. Placing the raw meat at the bottom corner will keep it from contaminating the rest of the food.
6. Properly Cooked Food
This probably sounds stupid to you because everyone cooks food, right? However, some people do not know the proper way of cooking meat and leave it under cooked which may cause food poisoning. Cook your food thoroughly in order to kill all the bacteria which may be present in the food.
7. Refrigerate the Leftovers
Do not leave your leftover food outside once it gets cold. This will leave it vulnerable to the environment which is full of bacteria. Make sure that you do not leave your leftover food outside for more than 90 minutes because it gets contaminated. So, refrigerate it as soon as possible.
8. Always Check the Expiry Dates
Most of us usually don’t check the expiry dates and it is not necessary that the color or the consistency of the product will tell us whether or not it is in a good condition. Always check the expiry date of every single product mainly canned food to ensure that it won’t harm you in any way.
