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22/11/2021 admin

Seven keys to food safety and a healthy diets

By C. Stevens, teacher at AIT L’Ametlla

Why what you eat matters

Your health depends, in part, on what you eat. If you maintain food safety and a healthy diet, you can improve your health.

In contrast, unsafe food practices and unwholesome food lead to serious health problems, just as poor-quality fuel can lead to car problems. They may not appear immediately, but they will come.

The World Health Organization (WHO) states that “every country in the world is affected by one or more forms of malnutrition”.

Four keys to food safety

1. Prepare food safely. Why? Dangerous germs in contaminated food and water can enter your body and make you sick.

Health experts recommend:
• Before you prepare food, wash your hands with soap and water.
• Use soap and water to wash cutting boards, dishes and anything else that will touch food.
• Wash all fruits and vegetables.

2. Separate raw and cooked foods. Why? Germs from raw food such as meat and its juices will contaminate other food.

Health experts recommend:
• Separate all raw foods -especially meats- from prepared foods when you carry them home from the market and store them.
• After cutting raw meat, thoroughly wash your hands, the knife, and the cutting board before cutting any other food.

Seven keys to food safety and a healthy diets

3. Make sure food that needs to be cooked is cooked thoroughly. Why? Harmful germs are killed only if the food reaches a high enough temperature.

Health experts recommend:
• Cook food until it is very hot. Food including the innermost portion of meat. Must reach 70 degrees Celsius (160ºF) for at least 30 seconds.
• Bring soups and stews to a boil.
• To eat previously-cooked food, reheat it until it is hot and steaming.

Seven keys to food safety and a healthy diets

4. Keep food at safe temperatures. Why? If food is stored at a temperature between 5 and 60 degrees Celsius for just 20 minutes, the number of bacteria in it can double.

Health experts recommend:
• Keep food hot or cold, not lukewarm, to slow or stop germs from multiplying.
• Never leave food sitting at room temperature for more than two hours, or for more than one hour if the room temperature is over 32 degrees Celsius.
• After it is cooked, keep food hot until just before serving.

Three keys to healthy eating

1. Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables every day.
2. Eat only moderate amounts of fats and oils.
3. Limit your intake of salt and sugar.

Seven keys to food safety and a healthy diets

QUESTIONS

1. In part, what does your health depend on?
2. What does the World Health Organization (WHO) states?
3. Why do we have to separate raw food from cooked food?
4. Is this stamen true? “We can keep food at a room temperature for more than five hours” Why or why not?
5. “It is safe to reheat food after has been cooked” Is this true?