World Food Safety Day is marked on June 7 every 12 months to boost awareness about practices that might help prevent, detect, and manage foodborne risks.

In keeping with WHO estimates, around 1,600,000 people around the globe get sick resulting from unsafe food, and 340 children below the age of 5 die resulting from preventable foodborne diseases day by day.

The theme of this 12 months’s World Food Safety Day: “Food standards save lives” highlights the importance of protected food practices to make sure what we eat is protected for us.

Bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemical substances entering the body through contaminated food could cause foodborne illnesses. Every 12 months one in six Americans gets sick, at the very least 128,000 get hospitalized, and three,000 die from various foodborne diseases.

Food poisoning is a style of foodborne illness brought on by ingestion of contaminated food or drink.

Symptoms to look out for:

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Stomach cramp
• Loss of appetite
• Hot temperature and chills

If ingested food happens to have chemical contamination, it might probably result in acute poisoning or long-term diseases resembling cancer.

Suggestions to forestall contamination

Hand hygiene and clean cooking environment:

Washing hands thoroughly after using the bathroom, touching raw meat or every other potentially contaminated surfaces can make sure the germs will not be carried to the food. Easy precautions like covering the mouth while coughing, not spitting near food, or using gloves to handle ready-to-eat food might help in stopping contamination.

Separate raw and cooked food:

Storing raw and cooked food individually within the refrigerator, and using separate cutting boards and vessels for meat, fish, and poultry can prevent cross-contamination.

Use protected ingredients:

Use clean water for cooking. Make sure that all of the ingredients used for preparation, including fruits, vegetables, and meats are fresh.

Ensure thorough cooking:

Using a food thermometer while cooking might help be certain that products like meat, poultry, and fish are cooked thoroughly before use. Cooking at an appropriate temperature will help to kill off harmful bacteria.

Store at a protected temperature:

Perishable food items needs to be stored properly within the refrigerator at the appropriate temperature. The best temperature of a fridge is between 37°F to 40°F while the freezer needs to be kept below 0°F.

Be careful for the expiry date:

The expiry date on the store-bought product indicates the date by which the nutrient value of the food decreases and the product gets spoiled. Avoid using products after the expiry and be careful for signs of mold growth and spoilage.

Handle leftovers safely:

The leftovers needs to be refrigerated immediately after use and consumed on the earliest. Reheating the refrigerated leftovers at high temperatures might help in killing any possible bacteria formation.

Washing hands thoroughly can prevent food contamination.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Published by Medicaldaily.com