How to Prevent Food-Borne Illnesses at Home

Food-Borne Illnesses are often caused by easily preventable factors. Learning basic cross-contamination avoidance, proper cooking temperature and time as well as the proper cleaning of food items will generally do the trick. Read on to find out how.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Sink
• Hand-washing Soap
• Disinfecting cleaner
• Food safe thermometer

1. Identify any and all potential sources of microbiological contamination. These include bacteria, viruses, and parasites.
2. Raw foods are typically the main culprit behind food borne illnesses. Take note of the following to handle and store properly:
   
   Raw animal protein: contains many different types of pathogenic microbes. If handled in raw form, touch as few kitchen items as possible, such as door handles and cooking utensils. Store them frozen or at refrigeration temperature on the bottom shelf (to prevent dripping fluids contaminating foods below).
   
   Raw vegetables: can contain pathogenic microbes from the soil or cross contamination during cooking, especially when consumed raw. After grocery shopping or before consumption, foods should be adequately rinses or wiped down to remove excess soil and will lower the microbes on the food product. Some raw fruits and vegetables could be avoided all together, sprouts being one of the most infamous.
3. Uncooked animal protein. All forms of chicken, shellfish, fish (except sushi) should be thoroughly cooked. Rare steak or rare ham is acceptable, but any type of ground meat (say, hamburger or sausage) should be thoroughly cooked. If any signs of pink residue resides in cooked chicken ground meat product should be cooked further.
   
   Uncooked vegetables should be at least washed and rinsed prior to consumption. Some vegetables can be blanched for 2 to 3 minutes and placed in ice water as an added layer of protection.
4. During the cooking process, do not allow any raw meat products to come into contact with foods to be consumed raw (fruits and veggies) or allow raw meats to contact foods that were recently cut. In either case, you would be transferring microbes onto food that are to be consumed.
   
   Also, if hands come in contact with raw meat it is suggested you immediately wash your hands thoroughly with soap. If not, you will touch multiple items in the kitchen and cross contaminate everything you come into contact with. Remember, some microbes have an infective dose (the amount of a pathogenic microbe required to get you sick) of only 10 infecting organism.
5. Properly store all leftovers and do not allow food to remain at room temperature. Also, do not store your leftovers in a large, deep metal holder. This holds temperature inside the container and prevents quick cooling to refrigeration temperature. Doing either of these can allow certain heat loving microbes a chance to multiply at a much greater rate.

Tips & Warnings

• A notable difference in food borne illness versus food poisoning exists. A food borne illness occurs when a microbe is ingested and grows/multiplies (E.coli O157:H7 is a good example). A food poisoning is the consumption of the actual toxin produced by the bacteria prior to consumption (botulism is the best example).
• Food-borne illnesses are tricky to diagnose because some work within 30 minuts and others can stay dormant for 10 days.
• Smell of any processed foods (canned food) for a fermented or bread like odor.
• Never feed your infant honey. It contains far too many botulism spores to risk illness.