MIND HOW YOU EAT

The theme of WHO Day, commemorated every year on 7th April was “Food Safety”.  On the occasion, Dr. Suresh Sundar, has contributed some  valuable tips for good health.

Food containing harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances is responsible for more than 200 diseases, ranging from diarrhoea to cancers.  That’s why WHO is promoting efforts to improve food safety, from farm to plate (and everywhere in between), by focusing on this important theme, this year.

Since Food safety is a shared responsibility, it becomes important to work all along the food production chain – from farmers and manufacturers to vendors and consumers.  It has proposed 5 Keys to safer food :

Key 1: Keep clean

Key 2: Separate raw and cooked food

Key 3: Cook food thoroughly

Key 4: Keep food at safe temperatures

Key 5: Use safe water and raw materials.

The Guiding principles could be Heat It : Boil It : Cook it : Peel it or forget it

Do not drink raw (unpasteurized) milk or foods that contain unpasteurized milk. Raw milk is milk from cows, goats, sheep, or other animals that has not been pasteurized (heat treated) to kill harmful germs. A wide variety of germs that can make people sick have been found in raw milk, such as Brucella, Campylobacter, Listeria, Mycobacterium bovis, Salmonella, and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, including E. coli O157. E. coli O157 can cause haemolytic uremic syndrome, which is a sometimes deadly cause of anaemia and potentially permanent kidney failure. Raw milk contaminated with disease-causing bacteria does not smell or look any different from uncontaminated raw milk, and there is no easy way for the consumer to know whether the raw milk is contaminated.

• Wash raw fruits and vegetables thoroughly before eating. They should be washed by rinsing well in running cold water and scrubbing, instead of by soaking in standing water.
• Keep the refrigerator temperature at 4.4ºC or lower.
• Keep the freezer temperature at -17.8ºC or lower.
• Refrigerate foods promptly. Never leave cooked foods at room temperature for more than two hours (one hour if the room temperature is above 32ºC).
• Use precooked, perishable, or ready-to-eat food as soon as possible.
• Wash hands, knives, and cutting boards after handling uncooked food.
• Do not eat pre-prepared salads.
• Do not eat soft cheeses such as feta, Brie, and Camembert, blue-veined cheeses, or Mexican-style cheeses such as queso blanco, queso fresco, or Panela, unless they have a label that clearly states that the cheese is made from pasteurized milk.

Bacteria like Listeria can grow in the refrigerator.  So, even if you consume foods that are considered safe, be sure to eat them from freshly opened packs and not from leftovers in the refrigerator.

2-Hour Rule: Put foods in the fridge or freezer within 2 hours after cooking or buying from the store. Do this within 1 hour if it is 32 degrees C or hotter outside.

Never thaw food by simply taking it out of the fridge. Thaw food: - In the fridge - Under cold water - In the microwave (thaw = pighlana)

Marinate foods in the fridge. (TEL, MASALE ADI KE MISHRAN MEN LAPETANA)

Non Vegetarian foods

Keep raw meat, fish, and poultry separate from other food.

Wash hands, knives, and cutting boards after handling raw meat, fish, or poultry.

Thoroughly cook raw food from animal sources to a safe internal temperature: ground beef 71ºC; chicken 77ºC and turkey 82ºC.

Seafood should be cooked thoroughly to minimize the risk of food poisoning.

Eating raw fish (sushi) poses a risk for a variety of parasitic worms (in addition to the risks associated with organisms carried by food handlers). Freezing kills some, although not all, harmful microorganisms. Raw fish that is labelled "sushi-grade" or "sashimi-grade" has been frozen.

Cook chicken eggs thoroughly, until the yolk is firm.

• Do not eat hot dogs, pâtés, luncheon meats, bologna, or other delicatessen meats unless they are reheated until steaming hot; avoid the use of microwave ovens since uneven cooking may occur.
• Avoid spilling fluids from raw meat and hot dog packages on other foods, utensils, and food preparation surfaces. In addition, wash hands after handling hot dogs, luncheon meats, delicatessen meats, and raw meat, chicken, turkey, or seafood or their juices.
• Do not eat pre-prepared chicken salad, egg salad, tuna salad, or seafood salad.
• Do not eat refrigerated pates or meat spreads. Canned or shelf-stable products may be eaten.
• Do not eat refrigerated smoked seafood unless it has been cooked. Refrigerated smoked seafood, such as salmon, trout, whitefish, cod, tuna or mackerel, is most often labelled as "nova-style," "lox," "kippered," "smoked," or "jerky." The fish is found in the refrigerator section or sold at deli counters of grocery stores and delicatessens. Canned or shelf-stable smoked seafood may be eaten.

Dry Fruits

Humidity should be eliminated from any area where dry food is being stored.

Any oxygen at all can be considered a threat to the quality of dry food and can actually decrease its shelf life.

Keep it in its original packaging—since a product’s packaging is typically designed to keep its contents fresh. If an item’s original packaging has been tampered with, or it is not possible to keep the food inside of the packaging (due to limited space, bulky packaging etc.) then the best alternative is to disperse the products into a range of airtight containers. As a general rule of thumb, food storage areas should never have a humidity level that’s higher than 15%.

When dry food products are exposed to a lot of sunlight, photo-degradation occurs, which causes foods to lose nutrients such as fats, proteins and vitamins.

Dry food products should always be stored in a cool and well-ventilated area. In fact, the storage temperature for dry food should always be somewhere between 50°F and 70°F. Industry professionals recommend that the area where dry food is stored should be well-ventilated and void of any equipment that produces heat. This can include water heaters, steam generators and transformers.

Keep track of when each and every item was first placed into the pantry. Do not eat after the expiry date.

General Precautions

• People with diarrhoea and/or vomiting should be cautious to avoid spreading infection to family, friends, and co-workers. A person is considered infectious for at least as long as vomiting or diarrhoea continues, and sometimes longer depending upon the microbe.
• Micro-organisms that cause food poisoning are usually spread from one person to another by hand to mouth contact. As a result, hand washing, care with diapering, and staying out of work or school are a few ways to prevent infecting family and other contacts.

Let us all work together to make food safe from farm to plate.

This article was contributed by Dr. Suresh Sundar, M.D., D.P.H. (Mumbai), Cert. PHC & Rural Management (Thailand) for CALIBRE CREATORS LEARNING LETTER.

This interview was published in the Calibre Creators LEARNING LETTER issue of May 2015, Vol. 3, Issue No.9.  
 

To  view and download the previous issues, please visit www.calibrecreators.com.

 

Or you can simply send us a mail to sarfaraz.calibrecreators@gmail.com to request your copy and receive the issue regularly. 

 

Get Your Child Assessed for Making the Right Career Choice.  Take the Aptitude Test – go to www.calibrecreators.com

 

Write to Calibre Creators to resolve all your education and career related queries.  Please visit www.calibrecreators.com/contact-us.  There are no charges for this service.  Make extensive use of the service.  All queries are responded within 24 hours.