As a teenager, I used to drive my car like a retard and was often injured in small accidents. I am not proud of it but I blame it on the hormones. Today when I have taken the role of a mother and I look back, I feel what a fool I was. I knew I would be endangering my life and still for the adrenaline rush I would indulge in such morbid acts. This happens with all of us. It’s a human nature that we know the consequences of a certain act but would still indulge in it. It can be purely ignorance, laziness or even a self-created illusion that nothing would happen to us. For Example, the other day I was watching a documentary on earthquakes. A very pertinent point was raised that a good percentage of people do not find safe shelter when the earth shivers, believing it shall pass and nothing would happen to them. Unfortunately, many times the fury of nature can take a toll on us. The point I am trying to make here is that we are not safe in this world, The dangers can range from terrorist activities, to acts of God, to road rage, to occupational hazards and even food-related hazards. There are many of these where we have little or no control but certainly there are many things which we can tame and bring them under our command such as Food Safety.
Isn’t it funny how we know the perils of not putting the seat belt and we also know how keeping the food at room temperature can make it go bad and lead to food poisoning. We are often careless and compromise our safety. Of course you may not get sick by eating
unhygienic street food every single time but then there is always a chance. It can be compared to jumping a red light. You may not get caught every time but then when you do, you have to pay a hefty amount. If one follows simple healthy food practices you can mitigate a lot of risks and live your life with ease and care. Some of these practices are:
Clean:
Hands are a storehouse of germs which need constant scrubbing. Hands must be effectively washed with soap and at least for 15-20 seconds. Care must be taken to rub the soap between fingers, behind the hand and near the wrist area. Kids must be taught at school and home to wash hands before coming in contact with food, eating and after toilet. Use of hand sanitizers should also encourage.
Separate Raw Food from Cooked Food:
Cross contamination is a big hazard and leads to food poisoning if care not taken. One must be careful that raw meat and raw vegetables should be kept separate from cooked food. Food such as Meats and Poultry need special care and temperature to be stored.
You can wrap your meat and poultry in food wrapping paper which keeps it from getting into contact with other food and also maintains its freshness.
Cook:
Undercooked cooked especially meat and poultry can pose a serious danger to your life. Even reheating the food should considerably bring up the temperature of dish which makes it free from germ contamination,
Storage:
Storing food at right temperatures is a major issue tackled by households and restaurants. meat Poultry and cooked food start getting bad at room temperature. Therefore, they should be kept at temperatures between 4 degrees to 60 degree Celsius.
If we abide by these basic rules we can ensure that our health will be safe. Food is the basic essential thing for subsistence and if that is contaminated we will fall prey to many diseases.Let’s make our lives disease free by adopting healthy practices and develop a
culture of consciousness.
