How to Prevent Food Borne Illnesses at Home

The quickest way to ruining a wonderful holiday is getting food poisoning. Foodborne illnesses are caused by food going bad and contaminated with bacterias or virus. Food poisoning can become serious, especially in young children, pregnant women, and older citizens. It's symptoms which include upset stomach, cramping, fever, diarhea, and vomiting can lead to dehydration and hospitalization. In severe cases, even death.
Fortunately, there are some precautions we can take to prevent foodborne illnesses from happening.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Soap and water
• Refrigerator
• Cooking thermometer

1. The number one thing we can do is to make sure we always wash our hands before eating and before preparing food. We touch all kinds of germ-ridden surfaces each day from the grocery carts to a runny nose. Washing hands thoroughly is one way to prevent foodborne illnesses.

2. The second thing we can do is making sure we seperate raw meat from cooked food. A good way to do that is to have two different cutting boards: One for raw meat and one for fruits and other cooked items. Always wash cutting boards and other food preparation surfaces thoroughly. Also remember to keep cooked food seperate from raw food when storing in the refrigerator together.

3. The third thing we can do to prevent foodborne illnesses is to cook food thoroughly. Raw food such as eggs and chicken can contain Salmonella and certain meat and some vegetable may contain E. Coli.
   
   Invest in a cooking thermometer to make sure all meat is cooked to the right temperature. Beef should be between 145 to 170 degrees (medium rare to well done); Pork should be cooked to 170 degrees; Chicken should be cooked to 180 degrees. Cooking food thoroughly will help kill most bacterias.

4. The fourth thing is making sure to refrigerate any leftover food as soon as possible. Food left out in room temperature for over 2 hours may no longer be safe to eat as the growth of bacteria increase quickly and the contamination may not be noticeable by sight or smell alone. Refrigerating food will slow down bacterial growth.

Tips & Warnings

• Wash hands properly by using soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds.
• Clean children's toys, doorknobs, changing tables, countertops and other surfaces that gets daily use with a bleach solution: 1/4 bleach (such as Clorox) to one gallon of water (spray and wipe clean)
• An alternative to using bleach and other harsh chemicals is to use a vinegar as it is a natural antibacterial. Add 1 cup white vinegar to 1 gallon water.
• Read instruction carefully when using household cleaning items and use only as directed
• Never mix anything you're unsure of

[grouch]

on 1/12/2008 Thanks for the tips. I would hate to think that I invited a whole house full of guests only to serve them up with a good case of the worst illness I can think of.