When poor hygiene is practiced in the kitchen, some serious food contamination problems like salmonella can happen. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of food poisoning reported, although most cases occurred in large food-processing plants. It is still wise to be cautious. Understanding the safe side and stick to it as you can will minimize the chance of getting food contamination. Here are some tips on kitchen hygiene:
Washing up and wiping down: Do you have the habit of washing your hands thoroughly before handling food? This is the very first step of good hygiene practices. Also, maintain the workbench, refrigerator shelves, and all cooking utensils. In terms of using chopping board, you should have a specific board for meats and another one for vegetables. Keeping all chopping board clean is so important. For example, plastic chopping boards in particular should be well-scrubbed. Good practice is to put them regularly in the dishwasher. How about wooden chopping boards? Remember to wipe them down after each use and scrub with salt every week.
Storing Food in the fridge: Store your food in containers and keep them covered. The better practice is to keep your food that you are about to serve either very cool or very hot. The reason is that bacteria multiply very fast between 5°C to 65°C. It is very important not to store cooked food and raw food together in the same container, and never let juices from raw meat to drip onto other things in the fridge. As to dairy food, you should regularly check on use-by dates and throw away everything that is past over the expiry dates.
Freezing food: If you practice properly, there is no point that the food items are not in good condition. The most important thing is to warp food well in good-quality plastic bags, cling film or foil before you freeze it. Also, containers should be firmly sealed. Meat, fish and poultry should be defrosted in the refrigerator before you cook them, and never put those defrosted food back to freezer.
Practicing good and proper hygiene is very important for the health of you and your family. Keep in mind to wash up every portion of your working area in the kitchen, store your food in the fridge properly and correctly handle the frozen food. Following these three simple tips can significantly maximum the safety of any food you prepare in the kitchen. You do care the health of your beloved ones, don’t you?
