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Most of us think that the most polluted place in our homes is the toilet. Meanwhile, the real bacteriological bomb is located near the kitchen sink. Moreover, the sponge with which we clean the plates is an ideal place for bacteria to grow, as it provides them with a moist, warm climate and food waste.
This year, World Health Day is dedicated to food safety. This issue takes on a real dimension when we consider the fact that food containing bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemicals causes over 200 different diseases – ranging from diarrhea to cancer. Every year as many as 2 million people die in the world due to poisoning alone. The problem is not only about poor countries. There are also serious infections in Europe.
We often become infected with salmonella, campylobacter and listeria. The latter is particularly dangerous due to the long incubation period in the body, which can last from two weeks to three months. Acute listeriosis is even 30% fatal. cases.
It is also worth paying attention to the fact that in the last few years in Poland there has been a percentage increase in the share of viral infections, which are often very difficult to diagnose.
In the EU, the standards imposed on food production and processing are at a high level, and irregularities during controls result in very high penalties. For this reason, most of the poisonings in the Member States are not caused by the poor quality of the food we buy, but our own negligence. A huge amount of poisoning is the result of ignorance in the issues of safe food preparation, which is why we create meals full of pathogens.
Will we only be saved by eating canned, pasteurized dishes? Let’s not panic – WHO has developed 5 simple steps that will eliminate the risk of our refrigerators.
A biological bomb in your kitchen
Start taking care of healthy food by getting rid of as many pathogens as possible from the kitchen. Most of us think that the most polluted place in our homes is the toilet. Meanwhile, the real bacteriological bomb is located near the kitchen sink. Moreover, the sponge with which we clean the plates is an ideal place for bacteria to grow, as it provides them with a moist, warm climate and food waste.
You should wash the sink thoroughly every day, even if you don’t see any dirt on it. Failure to do so may cause bacteria to multiply and form a biofilm that is so compact that it sticks to the surface several hundred times more tightly than individual clusters of pathogens.
Change the sponges you use to wash your dishes frequently. The unpleasant smell of the washcloth is a sign that you have waited too long to replace it.
The fight against pathogens also concerns ourselves. Everyone knows the importance of washing our hands after using the toilet and before handling food, but most of us do it wrong. Rinsing your hands with water is definitely not enough – you have to rub them vigorously for several dozen seconds using soap.
Tricky chicken
How many cutting boards do you use when you are making dinner? In most cases, the answer will be one. This is the easiest way to get poisoned.
Store-bought chicken is usually covered in lots of bacteria. If you are not a fan of raw meat, this is not a problem in itself – subjecting it to heat treatment makes it no longer pose any threat to us. Only for pork chops, chicken breast or fish, we would like to eat some more salad.
When you cut the chicken on a board, bacteria remain on the board. Inadequate washing means that they can get onto vegetables, which you then prepare on it. You do not cook the salads, so the bacteria present in it pose a direct threat to your health.
The ideal situation is to have a raw food cutting board and one to prepare things to eat directly. The same goes for knives and food storage containers. If you are not able to take care of it, remember to scald the board generously with boiling water once a day to kill the bacteria. Remember that wooden boards are especially dangerous.
Watch out for the temperature
Research shows that a temperature of 70 degrees Celsius kills most of the bacteria on food products. Of course, none of us check the temperature every time we cook, so the safest thing to do is to bring it to the boil.
Unfortunately, we often forget about it when reheating food. Just because you have cooked food once doesn’t make it “bacterial resistant”. Yesterday’s soup may have come into contact with, for example, a dirty ladle. Therefore, when reheating food, it is not enough to keep it warm – it is best to boil it again. This is especially important for meat, fish, seafood, eggs and dairy products.
What about this freezing?
Do you put a piece of meat in the freezer and discover it only when you defrost the refrigerator? You can eat it, it was cold, right? Unfortunately not. Freezing causes most pathogenic microbes to stop reproducing, but not all. You can freeze beef the longest – up to eight months, and the shortest poultry – up to three months.
It is also worth paying attention to the method of defrosting food. Doing this for a few hours at room temperature is not a very good idea as these are ideal conditions for bacteria to multiply. The meat should be placed in warm, but not hot, water, which is changed every few minutes. In this way, we are able to carry out the process much faster without cutting down the protein.
The dangerous range of food storage is from 5 to 60 degrees Celsius, therefore it is also a mistake to leave food at room temperature for more than two hours.
Tip of the iceberg
Finally, under no circumstances should you eat foods that someone else has apparently been consuming – mold. Surprisingly often people think that it is enough to cut the heel off of spoiled bread, cheese with blue mold with a white coating is also edible, and a tomato with a blackened skin on the other side is great. It’s not true.
Visible mold is only a fraction of what may be inside your food. The mycotoxins secreted by molds are extremely dangerous. They cause not only poisoning, which in itself can result in death, but also allergies, damage to the respiratory system and liver, and a weakened immune system.
Therefore, the next time you feel sorry to throw away moldy peppers, think about whether you are harming your own health.
Every time Sanepid detects irregularities in restaurants, milk bars or canteens of holiday resorts, a wave of indignation is flooded by the media. And rightly so! Food preparation facilities should be perfectly clean. However, before making an unrefined comment about the dirt in such kitchens, consider whether you are growing a bacteriological cocktail in your home.