July 9th, 2021 | Updated on May 9th, 2023
How you handle your food will determine your health status. The better you get at it, the healthier you become. Therefore, it is crucial to learn every bit of food handling tips and ideas. The following content is a beginner’s guide to food handling.
While Shopping
Food handling begins when you are shopping. As you choose the right products, it is crucial to handle them with care and respect to how safe or unsafe they are when mixed with other food products.
As you do so, you may have seen some food vendors wear gloves when handling any food products. This is also a way of keeping them safe from any contamination.
Some of the best food handling gloves come from companies with the right expertise. They know the importance of keeping food safe from direct contact.
The following are guides on how to handle food when shopping:
Be Wary Of Cross-Contamination
Some food products are unsafe raw. If you mix them up with fast foods while shopping, cross-contamination may occur. Aside from that, some ingredients are better not mixed with some food products. Therefore, ensure you know which food products to keep separate to avoid any danger that arises from cross-contamination.
During Preparation
Each food demands a different level of care and attention during preparation. Nevertheless, there are recommended ways of handling food, regardless of whether they are easy or hard to prepare.
The following are the guides to handling food when preparing them. Do this before you prepare the food, during preparation, and after the whole process.
Wash Your Hands
It may seem palpable to wash your hands before you handle any food. However, not everyone remembers. People may not even be doing it the right way.
Washing hands is complete when you use relevant detergent and scrub your hands gently for at least 20 seconds. This way, you get rid of any germs that you would transfer to the food.
Wash The Produce
Health practitioners recommend that you wash, scrub, and rinse any fresh produce before peeling and preparing to get rid of germs. However, if you are dealing with packaged vegetables, check if they have pre-washed labels before you wash them.
The bonus tip is to clean surfaces after preparing food. This prevents the spread of any germ that may have stuck on your cooking surface.
While Storing
According to research, food enters the danger zone at 40 degrees. Hence, it is not advisable to keep food at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
The tip is to refrigerate your food for as long as possible. If you have to thaw, ensure that you defrost them inside the fridge.
During hot days, food reaches the danger zone faster due to heat. Therefore, it is advisable to limit the time by one hour.
Know When To Throw Away Stored Food
If you have food in the freezer, the best way to know when to get rid of them is to change the quality and taste. If you feel it has lost its taste, you may get rid of it.
