By Joseph Hazan,M.D., FACOG
SAFE NUTRITION
Safe nutrition relates to avoidance of food-borne contaminants,
pathogens and toxins that cause food -borne infections and food
poisoning. There are 76 million cases of food-borne illnesses in
the US annually and 5000 fatalities from this cause.
The following precautions are beneficial in preventing these illnesses.
1) Hand washing completely with water and soap before handling any
food item or any dishes used in preparing or serving of food.
Food should be well washed and rinsed.
2) Food to be eaten without cooking should not be in contact with
uncooked meat,fish seafood, poultry or other potentially contaminated
food items.
Raw or undercooked meats, seafood, poultry should not be eaten.
3) Unpasteurized milks, foods prepared with unpasteurized milks,
unpasteurized fruit or vegetable juices should not be consumed.
4) Cooking should be done thoroughly by reaching appropriate
temperatures. These temperatures are found at www.fsis.usda.gov/
Factsheets/Keep_Safe_Food_Safety_Basics/index.asp.
5) All leftover food, including gravies, sauces and soups should be
reheated to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
6) Refrigerators should be at or below 40 degrees and freezers should
be below zero Fahrenheit. Most bacteria tend to grow between 40 and 140
Fahrenheit. Food should be kept below 40 or above 140 Fahrenheit.
Food should not be kept at room temperature for more than two hours.
If the room temperature is over 90 Fahrenheit food can become spoiled
in only one hour.
Safe maintenance and preparation of food items are especially important
during pregnancy. Tomorrow we will look further into precautions in this
area.
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