Personal hygiene in the kitchen

Fortunately enough, the standard of food and variousprocesses used in the production of food are under supervision of certainstrict regulations and laws. They take care of safety of food and properdistribution and sales as well. But besides those, one needs to be wellinformed when it comes to choosing, storing, handling and preparing food in thesafest and most hygienic ways possible. There are a large number of peopleeverywhere around the world who experience food poisoning in the convenience oftheir own homes, due to a lack of basic knowledge of safe practices.

Clean Kitchen Means More Good Hygiene in House

Food safety is one of the most important aspects of goodhygiene in the kitchen. The foods need to be carefully selected, storedproperly, handled hygienically and cooked properly in order to prevent food poisoning.Kitchen is one of the places that always need to be kept completely clean at alltimes. It is impossible to get rid of all the bacteria that surround our homes,but still one needs to keep the place as bacteria free as possible. A good oflevel of cleanliness is the first step in the prevention of food poisoning.This can be helped by using modern materials in the kitchen which are simple toclean and maintain. It is of utmost importance to always clean and disinfectthe areas of the kitchen and the equipment commonly used for the preparation offood. The most commonly used cleaning substances and means of disinfectioninclude ultraviolet light, ethanol and chlorine bleach. Meats can becontaminated by salmonella, trichina worms and other sorts of pathogens so theyneed to be avoided, and meat always needs to be cooked thoroughly. Variousdifferent types of raw foods such as sashimi and sushi need to be prepared withextreme care. All the dishes used for the preparation and consumption of foodneed to be washed and sanitized with clean water and soap. Before touching anytype of food, one always needs to wash the hands thoroughly. The same thingneeds to be done after touching any type of uncooked food during thepreparation of a meal. The same utensils should never be used for thepreparation of different types of food. Cutlery should never be shared betweenpersons when eating. It is also highly recommended not to lick the fingers orhands during and after eating. Utensils that have already been used should notbe reused. All types of food need to be stored properly in order to avoidcontamination by various sorts of vermin. All foods that need to berefrigerated should always be kept in the refrigerator or freezer. Food itemsshould be labeled according to the date of production or expiry date. Alluneaten foods and packaging need to be disposed of in a proper manner.

Food Safety

All food items need to be purchased from the most reputableretailers because they are the ones which utilized high standards when it comesto hygiene practices. One should always check the expiry dates on differentproducts before purchasing them. Excess amounts of highly perishable foods shouldbe avoided. Chilled and frozen foods need to be taken home immediately afterpurchase so that they can be stored in a refrigerator or a freezer as soon aspossible. Foods in damaged or faulty packaging need to be avoided.

Storage of Food

One should always rely on refrigerators which have athermometer installed in order to be well informed about the temperature insidethe fridge. The temperature always needs to be kept below 5 degree of Celsius.This temperature is very important to maintain because it prevents the growthof certain harmful types of bacteria, or at least it slows down the growth. Itis never advisable to store too much food in the fridge because that mayprevent it from operating efficiently and it may also disallow the air tocirculate in a proper manner. Raw foods should always be kept on the lowershelves, while the cooked foods should be kept and the topmost shelves. Hotfood must not be ever put into the fridge, because it causes the temperatureinside the fridge to rise. The temperature in freezers should be -18 degrees ofCelsius.

Cleaning Chemicals Shouldn’t Be Taken for Granted

There are various types of antibacterial products whichusually combine disinfectants and cleaners in one convenient package. Theseshould not be used without checking the instructions list first. There are alsovarious disinfectants available on the market, which are very efficient when itcomes to reducing the levels of bacteria to much safer values. One should neveruse any disinfectants on any areas covered with dirt or grease. Detergents areliquids used for washing up. They are usually intended for use with hot waterin order to wash the surfaces, dishes or other equipment.