Food safety includes taking basic precautions when preparing, cooking or consuming foods. Millions of people get sick each year due to unsafe food preparation techniques found in public restaurants, cruise lines and other places. The challenges to food safety is caused by new bacteria, antibiotic resistance and toxins. There are also changes in food supply and production systems and more foods are imported from other countries without food safety guidelines.
Food Safety Tips
You can stretch your food budget by purchasing meats when it is on sale at your local grocery store. Keep your equipment clean at all times when preparing foods for freezing. Wash meat processing equipment with soap and water. Use a disinfectant to kill germs that may stay behind on surfaces. The same process is used to disinfect a meat slicing machine.
A food packaging machine is a great way to prepare meats for freezing. You must vacuum seal the meat to ensure air cannot get inside. Learn how to preserve meat using safe methods. Many people want to know how long can you keep meat in the freezer before it goes bad. A good rule of thumb is to date the packages with an expiration date of six months from the packing date.
Prevent cross contamination in your kitchen by washing preparation surfaces with a disinfectant solution that contains bleach. There should be separate cutting boards for vegetables and meats. Never use a cutting board that has not been washed and disinfected. Fresh vegetables should be washed before placing them on the cutting board.
At the grocery store, keep meat, seafood and eggs away from other foods in your grocery cart. Chicken should be placed in a plastic bag that is usually supplied by the grocery store. Bacteria can also spread inside your refrigerator. Be sure to keep foods separated until you are ready to prepare them for the freezer or the dinner table.
How to Freeze Foods
Freezing meats and vegetables is the best way to save money at the grocery store. Cleanliness in the kitchen goes a long way in keeping food illness away from your meats. Buy a variety of freezer bags including pint, quart and gallon. This will ensure you have the right size for the type of meat you freeze. Make sure the meat is free from air before you seal the package. Label all foods with the date packaged and an expiration date. Vegetables may be safely frozen up to three months, while meats are good for six months to one year.
If you only purchase vegetables when they are in season, you can freeze them when they cost less. Some vegetables are best frozen after they have been blanched such as tomatoes, corn and beans. Blanching is the process of submerging vegetables in boiling water for several minutes. It is important to have a bowl of ice water ready when the time is up to quickly cool down the vegetables.
Centres for Disease Control and Prevention
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, food-borne illness is a common and preventable problem that affects one in six people each year. Approximately 3,000 people die from these food-borne illnesses. Salmonella is one of the most common causes for these illnesses that result in more hospitalisations and death than any other bacteria in foods. The CDC tracks the occurrences of food-borne illnesses found across the country. They also investigate food illness outbreaks, and takes preventive measures to meet food safety goals.
Antibiotic resistance is a problem due to an overuse of antibiotics in animals and people. Salmonella makes over 400,000 people sick each year due to their resistance to antibiotics. The government is taking steps by planning for the future. They increased the number of Salmonella bacteria samples tested for antibiotic resistance from five percent to 100. They have also expanded data collection on people that are sickened by food-borne illnesses.