How to Prevent Food Poisoning at Home

Cooking at home is not only cheaper but healthier too. You can regulate the amount of fat, sugar, and salt used in cooking by adapting it to suit your personal taste. If you are cooking at home, you also need to make sure you take every necessary precaution to prevent food poisoning.

Keep the Kitchen Sanitary

Work surfaces, kitchen utensils and everything that is used during the cooking process needs to be sanitary. Before you even put an apron on and start cooking, make sure you have wiped down work surfaces with an anti-bacterial cleaner and that you have washed your hands before starting food preparation. It is also important to keep pets out of the kitchen while you are cooking. Just these few simple steps can prevent food poisoning.

Check Expiration Dates

Check expiration dates on any packaged food products you plan to use such as couscous, rice, sauce mixes and condiments. Old, expired products can cause food poisoning if you are not careful. Throw out anything that has expired, even if you think it is still safe to eat. It is never worth taking a risk with your health or your family's health for the sake of saving money.

Use Separate Chopping Boards

Ideally, you should use separate chopping boards for raw meat, cooked meat, vegetables and other products. However, if you only have one chopping board, never use the same one for raw and cooked meats unless you sanitise the chopping board and thoroughly dry it in between uses. The juices from the raw meat can cause cross-contamination when they come into contact with the cooked meat. Once this is passed on to you and your family, you could suffer from the effects of food poisoning.

Store Food Safely

Once food has been cooked or prepared, make sure you store it safely and correctly. Allow hot food to cool down before placing any leftovers in the fridge. Keep food covered while it is in the fridge and use it up quickly. When there are a lot of leftovers, place some in the freezer. This is especially important if it seems that you will not be able to eat it within the next day or so.

Food poisoning is no laughing matter. It can cause severe side effects and take you and your family out of action for days. However, if you take precautionary steps in the kitchen, you can keep everyone in the family safe. Rather than rushing to the bathroom to be sick, they will be asking for seconds.