It occurs when you eat or drink something contaminated with any number of disease-causing bacteria, viruses, or parasites. And it can result in diarrhea, vomiting, and fever, which can be serious if prolonged.
Food poisoning usually can be prevented by handling food safely. Here’s how:
- Clean and wash hands, countertops, cutting boards, and other surfaces often.
- Use plastic or other nonporous cutting boards.
- Consider using paper towels to clean up kitchen surfaces.
- Separate and don't cross-contaminate, especially with meat, poultry, and seafood
- Separate raw meat, poultry, and seafood from other foods in your grocery shopping cart and in your refrigerator.
- Never place cooked food on a plate that previously held raw meat, poultry, or seafood.
- Cook food to proper temperatures to kill the harmful bacteria.
- Use a clean thermometer that measures the internal temperature of cooked foods/meats.
- Cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm.
- Fish should be opaque and flake easily with a fork.
- Bring sauces, soups, and gravy to a rolling boil when reheating.
- Refrigerate or freeze perishables, prepared food, and leftovers within two hours.
- Set your refrigerator no warmer than 40 degrees Fahrenheit and the freezer no warmer than 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Thaw food in the refrigerator, under cold running water, or in the microwave
- Marinate foods in the refrigerator.
- Divide large amounts of leftovers into small, shallow containers for quick cooling in the refrigerator.
- Don't pack the refrigerator full. Cool air must circulate to keep food safe.
It’s a lot to take in, but meeting these requirements will keep the whole family out of harms way. What’s that saying? Better to be safe than sorry. That definitely rings true here.
