Proper Food Handling to Avoid Food-Borne Illnesses

Food-born illnesses come from mishandled foods. The first thing to consider when trying to avoid food-borne illness is the proper storage of your individual food items. Storing foods right starts with keeping them at the right temperature. Read labels to see if an item can be kept in the cupboard or if it needs to be refrigerated or frozen. Some foods will even have information as to the exact temperature they need to be stored at on their labeling. Eggs are an example of this. It is recommended that eggs be kept at 45 degrees Fahrenheit or less, and never frozen. Keep open foods sealed in baggies or containers to keep air out, and to keep them fresher for longer.

One of the main things that should be pointed out about the connection between food labels and food safety is that the labels point out if the food has been made in a shop where nuts, wheats and other allergens may have been used. This lets people who may have an allergy to these foods know that they would not be safe eating this food.

It can never be stressed enough how very important it is to read the labels on our foods, even if not for proper nutritions sake or plain old safety. The labels give us information on whether our foods contain things like MSG or trans fats, of which both have been proven bad for our bodies and our overall health in general. We can also see what the serving size is and find 'sell by' and 'use by' dates that can help us keep track of the freshness of our foods from the time they came from the manufacturer to them finding their place in our kitchen.

It is easy to practice 'safe food handling', which can help to prevent food-borne illness from improper food handling. Always clean the counters when you are preparing meals. Clean in between each different food, especially meats. Also use different silverware between your meats and other foods during preparation to keep from cross-contaminating. Use a glass cutting board, which is the easiest to clean and the least likely to harbor any hard to clean off germs. And always wash your hands often.