How to prevent food poisoning

Sometimes we don't really know what goes into our body until the obvious signs of food poisoning take place.

It's a health concern that has affected us all at one point or another. With Malaysia being a heaven for good food, we are prone to suffer from the occasional effects of food contamination. The cause is food-borne microbes which can lead to nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, dehydration, abdominal cramps and fever.

Having said that, you are as likely to get ill from food prepared at home as the ones you eat outside. Unfortunately, there isn't a way to spot bacteria on food but you can take some simple steps to prevent or reduce incidences of food poisoning.

Wash hands thoroughly

When handling food, it is important that we keep our hands as clean as possible. Cross contamination can happen when the cooked food that you are handling comes into contact with raw meat and poultry. Thus, you should wash hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds, most especially when handling raw meat, eggs and seafood.

Separate raw meat

This is an important aspect in preventing food contamination. So keep raw meat away from ready-to-cook foods such as salad, fruits and bread. These foods can become contaminated when come into direct contact with raw foods or the drippings from raw foods. If thawing in the fridge, always cover raw meat and store it on the bottom shelf to avoid the said problems.

Keep your fridge below 5°C

Foods need to be refrigerated or chilled at the proper temperature to stop the food-borne bacteria and organisms from growing. Any level of temperatures between 4°C and 60°C will encourage them to grow rapidly, so always check that temperature is below 5°C. Also, refrigerated foods must not be left sitting out at room temperature for more than two hours.

Use different chopping board

Harmful microbes can easily transfer from raw foods to other foods, most especially when it comes into contact with anything they touch like worktops, plates, knives, utensils and cutting boards. It is recommended that you use separate boards for raw food, vegetables and bread. This will prevent cross contamination from occurring.

Cook food thoroughly

The surest way to kill off bacteria is to cook food all the way through. Certain foods like poultry, pork, beef and eggs should be cooked completely until steaming hot. Many of the nasty organisms thrive in these foods while raw, so cook meat until it is no longer pink inside, and the egg yolks and whites are firm. Use a food thermometer if you need to.

Source: WiseGeek, NHS UK

Extracted from MLP Health