Food poisoning during our trips is not a surprise to us. But when poisoning happens at home, we wonder what happened. Usually the cause is in our refrigerator, on a washing-up sponge and cutting board.

Food poisoningis usually caused by E.coli, Yersinia or Listeria. Many of us seem to be unable to develop at home. Meanwhile, we keep the most common cause of food poisoning in the refrigerator. How to prevent home food poisoning?

Food poisoning - cold-resistant bacteria

Yersinia, which lives on vegetables and in cottage cheese, and Listeria, which likes meat, cottage cheese, ice cream and eggs, feel great in the refrigerator. The temperature of minus 2 or minus 4 does not bother them at all, so they develop using our ignorance of what to store with what and hygienic negligence. They say that the biggest hotbed of bacteria in the house is the vegetable drawer in the refrigerator. It's worth taking it from the heart. If we do not want to have food poisoning at home, we must follow a few rules.

  • Defrost the refrigerator at least once a month (if there is no automatic defrosting and cleaning system). If it is equipped with such a system, we can do it once every six months.
  • We clean the vegetable drawer once a week. We take it out, wash it with detergent, rinse well and wipe it.
  • Products stored in the refrigerator should be arranged in the order of: first in, first out. We place new purchases in the second row to use what we bought earlier.
  • We carefully separate raw and cooked products. They should be in other places of the refrigerator.
  • Meat and fish, whether raw or cooked, are stored in tightly closed containers. In many stores, you can buy convenient and aesthetic food storage containers. We keep poultry separately, other types of meat separately, and fish separately. Raw poultry in particular, which easily becomes a breeding ground for bacteria, must be isolated from other types of food. Products in the refrigerator must not come into contact with each other.
  • Store meat and fish on the shelf with the lowest temperature. The ideal is the lower cooling temperature drawers that are now fitted to many refrigerators.
  • Do not overload the refrigerator. There should be some space around each item placed in it to let the air flowcirculated freely and properly cooled what is in the refrigerator.

Food poisoning at home - board, sponge, dryer

If you want to avoid domestic food poisoning, take care of the hygiene of kitchen appliances and accessories. Moisture is an ally of bacteria. They multiply in a dishwashing sponge and water spilled around the sink, on kitchen countertops, and on the floor.

  • So remember to always wipe everything dry in the kitchen.
  • Wring out the washing sponge very well and place it on an airy grate, where it dries faster.
  • Wash the dish dryer frequently, especially the cutlery basket.
  • Never put knives, forks, spoons or teaspoons in the basket with the handle upwards. The inside of the cutlery drying rack is damp and bacteria love it.
  • Always have two cutting boards: one for raw food and one for cooked food.
  • A separate board (preferably glass) for cutting raw meat and fish would also be useful.
  • Use separate cutlery for raw and cooked food.

Category:

Gastrology