12 Fast Facts About Food Safety That You Need to Know
Whether you're cooking, eating or both,
there are many things to consider when it comes to the food item you're
planning to enjoy. The two major concerns are health and safety. That
is: is the food I'm eating nutritious, and is the food I am eating free
of harmful bacteria and/or microbes? Foods can easily develop harmful
bacteria over short periods of time or even pick it up from places right
in your kitchen! That's why it's important to be aware of these 15 tips
about food safety. These vital food facts and demystified myths will
make sure you never end up with an upset tummy and no clue where it came
from.
1. Clean Your Crisper
The produce drawer/compartment in every refrigerator is where we
automatically toss our vegetables after a visit to the grocery store.
These vegetable bins are actually amongst the germiest places in the
kitchen, according to a study by NSF International. Regularly washing it
out with soap and hot water can help keep you safe and your veggies
bacteria-free.
2. Don't rinse your meat
It is almost by instinct that we wash our chicken before we cook it.
However, this is actually quite counterproductive as it does not remove
most of the bacteria tightly packed onto the exterior of the poultry, or
any of the bacteria potentially inside the chicken. And unfortunately,
it does result in cross-contamination on the various surfaces in your
kitchen. You may even end up degrading the quality of the meat. To make
sure chicken is safe to eat, you need to cook it fully through.
3. Go slow on vanilla icing
Vanilla icing is just one among many food items to be careful with for
the same reason and that reason goes by the name Titanium dioxide. This
additive is found in coffee creamer, ranch dressing, icing, sunscreen,
and even laundry detergent as it is used to make whites whiter. While it
is considered largely safe, prolonged use has led to severe
inflammatory bowel disease. All such products should be consumed with
caution.
4. When to toss out leftovers
With portion sizes only getting bigger and diets getting stricter, there
are always leftovers in the fridge. It's important to keep track of how
long they've been in the fridge and ensure you throw them within 3-4
days tops. Beyond that, bacteria can develop in the food that will not
alter the taste or appearance of the food, so you may unknowingly
consume something harmful.
5. Refrigerate your butter
There are few things more frustrating than struggling to spread
semi-frozen butter on your toast while your rushing to miss morning
traffic. However, as tempting as it may be to leave your butter outside
the refrigerator, that can result in drastically multiplying the rate at
which spoilage microbes spread through your spread. Take the butter out
15 minutes prior to spreading or just use a warm knife.
6. Switch up your cutting boards
Regularly washing your chopping/cutting board is an important part of
maintenance. There are numerous ways to give it an extra thorough scrub
as well. However, each tiny scratch on your cutting board contains
tonnes of bacteria, many of which become harmful over time or mix
dangerously with other bacteria. It is therefore advisable to keep
different boards for different types of food or to ensure you keep
changing your board. The latter is the safest option.
7. Cook eggs and meat at 160°F
Undercooked meat can be extremely dangerous to consume and lead to a
wide variety of illnesses that manifest in different ways. That's why
the USDA says that ground meats and ground poultry should reach
respective temperatures of 160°F and 165°F to be safe to consume. In the
case of eggs and egg-based dishes, the egg has to be cooked to 160°F to
ensure that all salmonella bacteria is killed off. That's why it is
recommended to keep a thermometer handy in the kitchen.
8. No more double-dipping
Double-dipping doesn't seem like it would be that dangerous, but it is
the quickest way for bacterias and viruses to spread. Regardless of the
bacteria being in the dip, the appearance of the dish will not change so
the risk is always there. When you're at a restaurant or hosting guests
at home, make sure everyone gets a plate to enjoy their sauces so there
are no excuses for double-dipping. This is a doubly important rule to
keep in mind during a pandemic.
9. Eating raw cookie dough
A long-standing family tradition on holidays for kids has been to fight
to lick the bowl of batter after the cookies have made their way to the
oven. As disappointed as the kids will be, this practice needs to end
and they'll thank you for it later. Despite its deliciousness, raw
cookie dough is extremely dangerous. The uncooked flour in it may
contain E.Coli bacteria, which causes severe food poisoning and
intestinal damage.
10. Can water become unsafe?
Usually, before heading to bed, we grab a glass of water to sip before
we slip off into dreamland. Sometimes when we wake up the next morning
and lean over to quench our throat, the water can have a bit of an odd
taste or after-taste. This may make you wonder if the water is safe to
drink or not. Water does not spoil so leaving it overnight will not
change the safety of the water, even if it has a slightly funky-taste
later.
11. The 5-second rule
Most home-cooks, especially amateur ones who are just starting to
improve their kitchen prowess, have invoked the 5-second rule at some
point or other. When one of your main ingredients slips out of your hand
and lands on the floor, you just grab it as quickly as you can,
believing that 5 seconds is too short a time for bacteria to latch on.
Unfortunately, bacteria needs no time at all so once that piece of meat
or veggie hit the ground, it was already exposed.
12. The thin white film on chocolates
When you've kept a bar of chocolate in a warm place for a while (or even
in a cold place for a really long time), you may notice a thin white
film coating your chocolate. In case you've ever wondered if chocolate
is safe to eat when you find this coating, the answer is yes. When the
fat from the cocoa butter separates from the cocoa, it causes the
coating to form, which is perfectly safe to eat!