How To Prevent Foodborne Illnesses

Foodborne illnesses have the potential to be serious issues with many adverse effects. Therefore, it is vital to take the proper precautions to avoid contracting an illness or spreading it to others through ineffective cooking and cleaning methods. It is essential to understand the various causes of foodborne illnesses in the first place to do this. Some of the most common foodborne illnesses include norovirus, salmonella, hepatitis A, E. coli, and listeria. Typically, a lack of hygiene and unclean cooking and prepping surfaces causes these conditions. The following includes a closer look at measures you can take to prevent the spread of these types of illnesses.

Clean Hands And Surfaces

As previously mentioned, failing to clean hands and surfaces is the main way foodborne illnesses are spread. Therefore, it is important to clean your hands after using the restroom, before consuming food, before cooking, after coming into contact with a sick person, after touching uncooked meat or petting an animal. There are also other times you may come into contact with potentially dangerous substances, such as trash. It is important to use discretion as well as common sense to practice good personal hygiene and prevent the spread of germs.

It is also important to keep surfaces and equipment that come into contact with food clean and sanitized. Use detergents or soaps to clean surfaces and equipment, and to sanitize, use the appropriate sanitizing chemicals. Also, a safer alternative is using water hot enough to kill the germs, which is 167 degrees Fahrenheit or hotter. Lastly, when using chemical sanitizing products, it is important to remove any residue.

Avoid Cross-Contamination

It is important to avoid cross-contamination, defined as unintentionally transferring germs from object to another. It is crucial to keep hands, surfaces, and equipment clean and sanitized to do so, as previously mentioned. Also, avoid keeping cooked food and food ready to be consumed away from raw meat and eggs. Storing them near each other can be dangerous, and it is also important not to prep them on the same surfaces without utilizing the proper cleaning methods beforehand.

This means you should use separate cutting boards for things like produce and meats. Also, ensure you are not using utensils that have come into contact with raw meats on other types of foods. Use clean knives for chopping, as well as clean utensils for stirring food. Overall, being well-informed about cross-contamination and practicing the proper procedures can help prevent illnesses in the long run.