Festive seasons comprise glittering lights, new clothes, family and friends' gatherings, and especially a wide variety of food and desserts. Eating delicious foods can make you feel happy, but you should also ensure food safety for the holidays. Most people are affected by food poison during the festive season. Here are some food safety tips to keep food poisoning at bay this holiday season.
5 Holiday food safety tips
Cook your food properly
Don't eat raw or undercooked food because they contain bacteria that can affect the human digestive system. Cook your food completely, but don't overcook. Cooking food for more time can destroy its nutrient values and is harder to digest than those which are cooked adequately. High-starch foods cooked at high temperatures form carcinogenic compounds that can lead to cancer.
Eat pasteurized food
Use pasteurized eggs and milk for food that needs to be prepared with raw eggs or milk. Bacteria such as Salmonella and other harmful pathogens may exist in eggs. Most holiday delicacies comprise eggnogs and tiramisu which contain raw eggs. Instead of avoiding these desserts, go for pasteurized eggs instead of normal ones.
Refrigerate or freeze
If you are planning to consume a particular food later, then make sure you don't keep it in the atmospheric temperature for more than two hours. Proper refrigerating and freezing measures help in some cases. Refrigerate foods that will decompose quickly. Cooked food can be refrigerated once it reaches the normal temperature. Make sure you use the refrigerated food within three days and frozen leftovers within one month.
Wash your hands often
During the holiday season, there are chances to play games or do activities with many people. Do avoid infection with bacteria and other germs. Make sure you wash your hands with soap and water often. This is one of the significant holiday food safety tips which requires you to wash your hands,
- Before and after consuming food
- After spending time with your pets
- After using washroom facilities
- During, before, and after preparing meals
- After changing diapers
- Soon after handling garbage
- After coughing and sneezing
Keep animal and plant-based food separated
Keep food such as meat, chicken, eggs, and seafood while shopping and when storing in the refrigerator. This would help avoid any fluid leaking from these foods into the veggies. Have a separate chopping board and knives for these types of food. After you use raw meats, poultry, or seafood, always wash the chopping boards, plates, and utensils with hot water and washing liquid.
Avoid eating raw batter or dough
Make sure not to eat batter or dough made with flour or eggs. Consuming these may cause food poisoning as the dough or batter may have harmful bacteria such as Salmonella or E.coli and other germs that affect your digestive system.
Bottom Line
Hope these winter holiday food safety tips are useful for any festive occasion. This way you can prevent food poisoning and any other harm affecting your gut and other organs of the digestive system.
Leia is a fitness expert and a post-graduate in health and nutrition. She educates people through her articles based on research. Her works encourage readers to be aware of what makes food nutritious, the latest medical updates, weight loss, psychology, and a balanced diet. She believes in the well-known philosophy of all time, 'precaution is better than cure.' Explore Leia's other posts for more information and advice on a health-conscious active lifestyle.
