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How safe is our food? 2. Separate raw and cooked … · How safe is our food? Food is more enjoyable if you know it’s safe to eat. Most foodborne illnesses are preventable by taking

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Page 1: How safe is our food? 2. Separate raw and cooked … · How safe is our food? Food is more enjoyable if you know it’s safe to eat. Most foodborne illnesses are preventable by taking

How safe is our food?Food is more enjoyable if you know it’s safeto eat.

Most foodborne illnesses are preventable bytaking precautions. Choosing safe food is inyour hands.

Have you ever vomited, had stomach pains,diarrhoea, or fever? These are just a few ofthe more frequent symptoms associated withfoodborne illness. Unfortunately, most peopledo not see the connection between thesymptoms they are suffering from and thefood that they ate.

What are the five keys tosafer food?

1. Keep Clean

Food safety beginswith keeping clean.

Dangerousmicroorganisms arefound everywhere. Afew of the placeswhere these unseendangers exist includemoney, animals, soil, hair,skin, the human mouth, and nose.

They are also present in raw meat, chicken,fish, and raw eggs — foods that spoil veryeasily.

Every day dangerousmicroorganisms can betransferred to your handsand from your hands to food.Washing your handsthoroughly (on both sides, around yourthumbs, under your nails and betweenyour fingers) with hot water and soapreduces the level of contamination.

What can we do to keep clean?

Always wash your hands beforehandling food and after goingto the toilet. Also avoidtouching your nose, mouth,hair, or anything likely to bedirty while preparing food.

When preparing your “baon”,equipment and work surfacesshould all be washed before andafter use. When buying food atschool or elsewhere outside thehome, avoid those establishments whosefood handlers don’t wash their hands,equipment, and work surfaces. Look tosee if the vendor is touching the foodwith his/her hands or using utensils. Theuse of utensils when handling food isbetter.

Prepare, store, or buy food in placesfree from flies, cockroaches, mice, rats,birds, animals, and other pests that carrydangerous microorganisms. Keep food insealed containers that do not allow pestsinto the food.

2. Separate raw and cookedfoods

Some foods like raw meat, chicken, andseafood may contain dangerousmicroorganisms that can easily transfer toother food. The transfer ofmicroorganisms from one food to anotheris called cross-contamination.

To find out if your food is likely to becross-contaminated answer these fewquestions:

Do you use the same chopping board orthe same knife for both raw food(meat, chicken, or seafood) and forready-to-eat food (e.g. salad, fruits,sliced processed meats, cooked food)?

Are your hands in contact with bothraw food (meat, chicken, or seafood)and ready-to-eat food (e.g. salads,fruits, sliced processed meats, cookedfood)?

Do you place cooked food back onto thesame plate or surface that it camefrom before cooking (i.e. when it wasraw)?

If your answer is yesto any one of thesequestions, you are

at risk ofcontaminating your food

with dangerousmicroorganisms.

When buying food, always look to see if theperson handling them separates raw fromcooked foods.

3. Cook thoroughly

Cooking food thoroughly is one of the bestmethods of killing microorganisms in food.How do you tell when food is cookedthoroughly? If you have a thermometer it iseasy. Cooking food(particularly thepart that is slowestto cook e.g. thecentre of a largepiece of meat) to atemperature of 70ºCis consideredthorough cooking. Ifno thermometer isavailable, youdetermine if food is cooked thoroughlywhen:

juices that come from the food whencooked are clear, not pink;

blood is not visible when you cut intocooked meat;

egg yolks are not runny or liquid;

soups and stews are brought to boiling.

Dangerous microorganisms can still be aliveand cause sickness if high-risk food likemeat is undercooked or raw.

Page 2: How safe is our food? 2. Separate raw and cooked … · How safe is our food? Food is more enjoyable if you know it’s safe to eat. Most foodborne illnesses are preventable by taking

Produced by:WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATIONWestern Pacific Regional Office

Contact UsFor questions about Food Safety,or further tips on making safer foodchoices, please call:

Very small pieces ofmeat likehamburger meatsare particularly

dangerous whenundercooked or raw. When

buying from the school canteen oranywhere outside the home, it is best toselect foods that have been cookedthoroughly.

4. Keep food at safetemperatures

The first thing many Filipinos do beforeeating is to smell their “baon” to make sureit isn’t spoiled. But smelling your “baon” willnot tell you if your food is safe or not.

Microorganisms grow veryquickly if food is storedabove 5ºC and below 60ºC(the danger zone). In thePhilippines, many foodsare sold and eaten atroom temperature (about30ºC - 40ºC), allowingmicroorganisms to rapidlyincrease in numbersand get to dangerouslevels.

If your lunch “baon” is notgoing to be consumedwithin two hours after ithas been prepared,consider preparingit the night before.

Put it in the refrigerator. Pack it the nextday with a frozen drink in a watertight bag.The frozen drink will help keep the “baon”below the danger zone.

When eating out, select hot food that ispiping hot. Cold food should be kept cold orrefrigerated. Buy from the vendor who sellshot food hot and cold food cold.

5. Use safe water and rawmaterials

Use only safe water when preparing food. Ifin doubt about the safety of the water inyour area, check with the local healthauthorities or simply boil the water. Boilingshould kill the dangerous microorganismsthat may be present in the water.

What about ice in drinks? If the water usedto make ice is unsafe so will be the ice itself.Buy only where you believe it has been madefrom safe water and where you can see itbeing handled hygienically.

Wash fruits and vegetables, especially ifthey are to be eaten raw.

Read food labels carefully and followinstructions. Start with the date. “Use by”tells you how long the food remains safe toeat.

Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI)Department of Science and Technology (DOST)DOST CompoundGen. Santos Avenue, Bicutan, TaguigMetro Manila, PhilippinesTelefax: 837-2934; 837-3164

5 Keys to Safer Food:

1. Keep Clean;

2. Separate raw and cookedfood;

3. Cook food thoroughly;

4. Keep food at safetemperatures;

5. Use safe water and rawmaterials.

Food is more enjoyable if you know it’ssafe to eat. And remember the