Food contamination may occur in any stage,
regardless if it is preparation, processing, harvesting, transportation,
or storage. There are diseases that you can get from dirty foods, which
are usually common where low standards of hygiene are used. In
accordance to the data that WHO released, yearly, there foodborne
diseases are causing one out of ten people to be ill. These diseases may
be deadly, particularly in children.
Cleanliness (Washing hands and surfacing often)
You
need to wash your hands thoroughly with soap before you come in contact
with food. This will eliminate the transfer of germs from your hands to
the food. You need to wash all the fruits and vegetables with cold
water before you use them. Kitchen surfaces and counters have been the
key places where dirt can get the food contaminated. These areas should
be thoroughly sanitized together with the equipment used to prepare
food.
In case you are sick or you are down with flu and cold,
you need to avoid handling and cooking food. When a person has the
symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea, or jaundice, he/she needs to stay away
from the workplace. Furthermore, if they have a fever or sore throat,
he/she must be restricted from serving and preparing food. It is
alarming because these people may possibly have spread disease to those
who consume the foods that they are serving.
Separation (Not cross contaminating)
In
order to prevent cross contamination of food and keep it raw and
cooked, you should separate them during preparation and storing. Food
must be stored in the covered containers in the fridge, putting raw
poultry and raw meats in the bottom of the fridge in order for the
juices not to get the food contaminated on lower shelves. You should not
put cooked meat back on the plate where the raw meat has been on.
Cooking (To the right temperature)
If
you are eating seafood, poultry, and meat, you have to be careful when
cooking them. These foods must be cooked thoroughly at the right
temperature before eating. To confirm, you need to insert a skewer in
the center of the meat, checking that there would be no pink meat. The
juices need ot run clear, as these are the signs of meats that are well
cooked.