Home Safety Zone - Food Safety

You Cannot Ever Be Too Sure When It Comes To Food Safety

Food poisoning is one the major issues when dealing with food safety.

Poisoning as a result of improper handling of food is more common than you might think, that is why it is so important to make your own kitchen and home a bastion of food safety and through the example you make everyday, your kids will also learn all they need to know to ensure their own safety when dealing with food. Follow the safety tips we have detailed below and you will be able to keep this life free of pain and heartbreak.

Food safety in the home

How do I know if I have been poisoned by the food that I ate? Well, there are a few signs that would indicate that food poisoning is the cause of your or your family's illness. Here's what food poisoning will do to you:

Weakness
Nausea
abdominal pain
fever
dizziness

These symptoms general develop within 48 hours of getting poisoned. Food poisoning is caused by large amounts of bacteria, they are most likely to grow on raw foods. Another way for bacteria to get from place to you is through cross-contamination. This occurs when there is a tranfer of bacteria from one food to another or from the food to objects or people. Bacteria that cause food poisoning is happiest in temperatures ranging from 40-140 degrees Fahrenheit.

What can you do to handle this food safety issue?

Good question. Here are some food safety tips that will help keep your family more healthy. First and foremost, wash your hands before you prepare food, while you are making food, and after you have finished preparing the food (really, it works and make sure to do it for at least 20 seconds)
Clean all cutting boards and any other utensils that you use for food preparation in hot, soapy water. A very effective cleaner and killer of bacteria on cutting boards and counter tops is a diluted solution of bleach.
Make sure that you throughly wash all fruits and vegetables.
This is a very important food safety tip - keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot!!! As we stated before bacteria thrives in temperatures between 40- 140 degrees Fahrenheit. So, either keep them colder than those temperatures or hotter. Keeping foods at room temperature for about 2 hours or more will cause the bacteria to multiply.
Also, be sure your fire safety regulations are up to code, as fires may break out.

Practice these tips everyday and ensure kitchen safety for your family. Never underestimate the power of prevention that one little kitchen safety tip can have!

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