Culinary Hygiene

Kitchen is the centre of all activities in most homes. It is also the breeding ground for most bacteria and the cause of many unwanted diseases that are avoidable if proper care is taken. It is vitally important to maintain certain hygiene standards and follow certain rules to ensure the health of our family.
    To begin with, it is important to check the food packets and the grocery we buy. Check the date of expiry and never buy food with damaged packaging. If you are buying frozen food, ensure that you get them in your kitchen’s freezer as soon as it can before is thaws out completely. Keep all corners and parts of the kitchen totally clean. If the kitchen is not cleaned on a daily basis, it can get infested by bacteria or even rats in certain cases.
    While washing up vessels, use a detergent based product with hot water to get rid of all the grease and food residuals. You also need to use a disinfectant after washing with detergent. Disinfectants help get rid of the bacteria that remain on plates even after using detergent. Keep the scrub and sponge that you use for washing dishes thoroughly clean and change them often. Dishcloths collect a lot of bacteria, so ensure that you wash them everyday with hot water. Before you start cooking, clean the counter tops and the chopping boards. Most of the times, food gets infected through dirty counter tops that are not cleaned often.
    It is advisable to keep the temperature in your refrigerator below 5 degrees Celsius at all times. Cover all food items with a lid, and don’t let them sit in the fridge for too long. Certain food items can get contaminated after a few days even when kept in a refrigerator. Refrigerator should be cleaned once in a month. When using frozen food, once it is thawed do not refreeze it. Once thawed, the food can develop bacteria rapidly.
    Always remember to keep raw meat separate from all other food items. Use a different chopping board for raw meat since it has a lot of bacteria, which can get transferred to other food items when using the same board and knife. Also remember to wash all the chopping boards and knives with a disinfectant after each use. Any residual food when left unwashed can gather bacteria. When handling raw meat, wash your hands with a medicated disinfectant before and after cooking. You can easily transfer bacteria to cooked food if you don’t wash hands regularly.
    If proper hygiene standards are not maintained in the kitchen, the food can get contaminated by bacteria or viruses. And consuming contaminated food can lead to food poisoning, which can last up to one week. In some cases, it may even develop complications that can result in permanent disability or even death. Those who are already ill, children, pregnant women and the elderly are more vulnerable to such diseases since they have a low immunity system. Hence, it is advisable to maintain proper hygiene in the kitchen.