Rohini Diniz
Most food-borne diseases are preventable with proper food handling. We look at the World Health Organization’s (WHO) keys to safer food:
KEY 2: Separate raw and cooked foods: Raw foods such as meats, poultry, seafood and their juices can contain dangerous micro-organisms that can be transferred onto other foods during food preparation and storage. To minimise this one needs to keep these points in mind.
While shopping, keep raw meat, poultry and seafood separate from other foods to avoid cross-contamination.
Use separate equipment and utensils such as knives and cutting boards for handling raw foods.
Store food in closed containers to avoid contact between raw and prepared foods.
Food safety doesn’t end with buying, transporting, and storing food safely. In fact, once you have food home the safety of your food is, literally, in your hands. Apart from separating raw food from cooked food and maintaining good hygiene during food preparation, cooking food to a safe temperature is the best way to ensure safety. When food reaches a safe minimum internal temperature, micro-organisms particularly bacteria that may be present in the food are destroyed.
KEY 3: Cook thoroughly: Proper cooking helps kill most harmful micro-organisms. Studies have shown that cooking food to 70 degrees Celsius helps ensure that food is safe for consumption as temperatures of 70 degrees Celsius kills even high concentrations of micro-organisms within 30 seconds. Foods that require special attention include meats, poultry, eggs and seafood. The centre of an intact piece of meat is often sterile, and most of the bacteria are present on the outer surface. Eating intact pieces of meat such as roast beef with red centres is usually not dangerous. One needs to be careful about minced meat and poultry as bacteria can be found both outside and in the centre. Lower cooking temperatures can be used to kill micro-organisms in certain foods. With lower temperatures, more cooking time is needed. In order to ensure that your food is thoroughly cooked.
Use a food thermometer to check that the foods reach 70 degrees Celsius. Make sure that the thermometer is cleaned and sanitised between each use to avoid cross-contamination between raw and cooked food.
Cook meats and poultry until the juices are clear and the inside is no longer pink.
For eggs ensure that both the yolk and white are firm.
Cook fish until it is opaque and flakes easily.
For shellfish such as prawns ensure that the flesh should become pearly opaque while the shells of crabs and lobsters should turn red and the flesh should become opaque and firm.
Bring liquid-based dishes such as soups, stews, gravies and curries to a boil and continue to boil for at least a minute.
When reheating cooked foods ensure that it is piping hot throughout.
A microwave oven can be used to cook food, but care must be taken to make sure the food reaches a safe temperature throughout as microwave ovens can cook unevenly leaving cold spots in the food where dangerous bacteria can survive. When using a microwave oven for cooking cover the food to be cooked and stir or rotate food midway through the microwaving time to eliminate cold spots and ensure more even cooking.
KEY 4: Keep food at safe temperatures: Micro-organisms can multiply very quickly if food is stored at room temperature. Bacteria multiply rapidly between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit. By holding food at temperatures below 5 degrees Celsius or above 60 degrees Celsius, the growth of most micro-organisms is slowed down or stopped but some dangerous micro-organisms still grow below 5 degrees Celsius. Whether you are in your kitchen or carry a packed meal to work or enjoying a picnic, some food safety principles remain constant. The first is ‘Keep hot food hot and cold food cold’ to keep foods out of the danger zone. Foods fall into three basic ‘storage categories’, namely, perishable foods or those that need to be stored in the refrigerator; frozen foods or those that need to be stored in the freezer; and shelf-stable food that can be stored at room temperature in a clean and dry place.
To be continued…
(The writer is a consultant nutritionist with 21 years of experience, practising at Panaji and can be contacted at rohinidiniz@gmail.com)
