Every year more than 80 million people all over the world get food poisoning. A person
who eats contaminated food can have health issues like stomach ache, diarrhea, fever, and
vomiting. Most of these can be treated and cured with immediate medical assistance.
However, sometimes, food poisoning can be fatal too. Some germs which can spread
through food are even known to cause paralysis, blood infection and kidney failure.
Hence, we should practice good kitchen etiquette to avoid contamination of food since
germs cannot be detected by taste or smell right after infecting the food.
Some common preventive measures which are the basic practices to ensure a healthy
kitchen is:
Wash your hands with soap and water before and after handling food. This is especially
relevant while handling seafood, fish, poultry, and meat. Any utensil or surface which has
been exposed to raw meat should be thoroughly cleaned with soap and water to avoid
easy growth of germs. Special attention should be paid to this when utensils and tools
used for handling raw meat is used for preparing raw vegetable and fruit salad
Eat the food soon after cooking it. Hot foods should be kept at 140-degrees F/ 60 degree C
or above. Cold foods should be kept at 40 degrees F/ 4 degree C or below. If the food is to
be consumed later, refrigerate the food right away.
The fridge should be set at a temperature of 4 degree Celsius or below. All leftovers
should be refrigerated as soon as possible. This is especially true in the case of salads
with creamy dressings, eggs, potatoes, and cream-filled pastries.
Whenever food is reheated for consumption, reheat it thoroughly to kill off any germs
which might have grown in the stored food.
The kitchen should be kept very clean at all times. All dishes, utensils and the kitchen
counters should be thoroughly cleaned, daily.
Do not store food in the open in the kitchen, since it can be contaminated by insects, pets,
rodents, etc. Always used closed containers to store food.
Ensure that the water being used in the kitchen meets the highest standards of purity. If
the water available to you is not up to the mark than either install water purifiers in the
kitchen or boil your water thoroughly before use.
Fast pace of modern life has paved way for a culture of fast foods and aerated drinks. We
have arrived at a point in time where the very mention of food brings the thoughts of
burgers and fried chickens. Mankind, in its quest for modernity, has ignored the healthy
options for long, resulting in increased prevalence of obesity, diabetes, cardio vascular
diseases, hypertension, depression and a lot of other diseases which were rarely heard of
so far.