Here’s how to check
It’s the time of the year when we have an abundance of food in the kitchen. We prepare and stock more food to entertain family and friends, don’t we? With overloaded refrigerators, leftovers, and the amount of highly perishable ingredients we add to our delectable recipes, we are placed at a greater risk of getting food-borne illnesses, commonly referred to as food poisoning.
To ensure a safe and merry celebration this season, there are some factors we need to be mindful of to prevent getting stomach upset or worse, food poisoning.
“Food safety is an assurance that food will not cause adverse health effects to the consumer when the food is prepared and eaten. Food should not be contaminated and must be safe to eat,” according to Ma. Paz Sales, RND, MSN, board of director of the Nutritionist Dietitians’ Association of the Philippines. Sales expresses her concern about food safety and over how very simple knowledge it is yet compliance is another story.
During the 13th episode of a livestream organized by plant-based advocate group Wholelistically Yours, Sales shared the four pillars of food safety that both consumers and those who prepare food must not only know but also apply.
Cleanliness. Start with personal hygiene. Tie lose hair, wear clean clothing, trim, and brush fingernails. Due to the pandemic, there is a sudden heightened awareness about cleanliness, especially handwashing, which is a positive thing. But cleanliness should extend to the surfaces that are involved in the food preparation, including the countertops, walls, ceilings, etc. The food preparation or kitchen must be kept clean at all times. This will prevent disease carrying bugs and all sorts of crawlers from finding their way into the food.
Separate tools. Cutting boards and knives must be separated. Use a specific board and knife for fresh produce, another set for meat, fish, and poultry. This will prevent cross contamination of microorganisms. Furthermore, separation also refers to how we organize the fridge. The topmost layer and second layer must contain ready-to-eat food, casseroles, and dairy products. Raw ingredients must be placed on the third layer and, lastly, the bottom part or crisper is the storage for vegetables. All items must be properly packaged and containers must be covered all times to prevent drippings and contamination. It is also important not to overload the refrigerator to prevent alterations in temperature that will cause bacteria to breed and multiply.
‘Food safety is an assurance that food will not cause adverse health effects to the consumer when the food is prepared and eaten.’
Cooking. When cooking meat, we have to determine the temperature of the thickest part to know if it is already cooked inside. It is ideal to have a food thermometer, although most households do not have this instrument. If this is unavailable, one way to gauge for the doneness of meat products while cooking is to check if the liquid that comes out of the meat is clear.
Chilling. It’s common practice to cool food after cooking by leaving it on the kitchen counter at room temperature. There is, however, a proper way of chilling in order to prevent going into the danger zone where bacteria could grow. Food must not be left to cool for more than six hours at room temperature. Check the temperature after the first two hours. It must drop from 60 degrees Celsius to 21 degrees. Unfortunately, not all households have a food thermometer. If that is the case, these three cooling tips may help. First, a large batch of food must be divided into smaller containers to cool faster. Second, spread it out in thinner or shallower pans to expose more surface area and speed up the cooling process. Third, ice can also be used to surround the container for rapid cooling.
In addition to the four pillars of food safety, Sales emphasizes on keeping food outside the danger zone at all times by keeping hot food above 60 degrees Celsius and keeping cold food below five degrees Celsius, the ideal temperature for a refrigerator that is not overloaded. Frozen food must be thawed in the refrigerator overnight before food preparation and cooking. When pressed for time in thawing, frozen goods can be submerged in a basin filled with running water.
When serving food buffet style without using a steamer or chafing dish, it is best not to serve everything at once. Instead, continuously refill dishes in small batches to prevent food poisoning. There is such a thing as a two-hour and four-hour rule. Food that has not been consumed after two hours must be immediately stored in the refrigerator. Anything left uneaten after four hours must be discarded. Microbes may be present even if the food does not taste or smell rotten or spoiled.
Observing food safety also entails knowing the expiration dates of products. Expired products must be discarded regardless of cost. After all, it is more costly to get sick than that box of flour. Dented cans must also be discarded regardless of expiry dates because dents as small as a pin hole will allow the bacteria Clostridium Botulinum to breed. This is very toxic. As for products labeled with best before dates instead of expiry dates, these may not be expired but will have less than ideal qualities when consumed past the indicated date.
Always be aware about food safety on all occasions. Have a healthy, happy holiday season!