Citizens Voice - World Health Day - Food Safety

Day 2,696, 04:15 • Published in India USA • by srk66

Hii Everyone

In this article of "Citizens Voice".

I would like to highlight about the World Health day which is observed on 7th April every year.The theme of this year's world health day was "Food Safety" and the slogan was “From farm to plate, make food safe“.


I thought of publishing this article yesterday itself i.e. on 7th April of Erepublik. But i couldn't still I thought it's better late than never... 🙂

Food contamination is one of the major concerns as the food is being contaminated at various stages.

That is while growing by the use of pesticides,etc..,.
Which have many harmful chemicals that can affect humans.

Food Ripening: The best examples for this are Fruits. The present season favorite mangoes are ripened by using a chemical called calcium carbide. Calcium Carbide is carcinogenic in nature and also contain traces of arsenic and phosphorus which have harmful side effects on human body. This chemical is easily available in the market at a very cheap price. So it's Extensively used for fruit ripening.

The fruits which are majorly ripened using this process are:

1) Mangoes
2) Bananas
3) Cantaloupes
4) Papayas and
5) Citrus fruits

Tomatoes are also ripened using the similar process.

Food Preservatives present in other few packaged so called fresh foods and also the frozen foods are also harmful to health.





Here are few food safety guidelines that you can apply in your daily habits.

Keep clean

We all are aware that the popular myth 'From farm to plate' doesn't stand relevant in today’s circumstances. Keeping that in mind, WHO has stressed on the fact that we must, in all circumstances, follow clean cooking habits. Following unhygienic cooking habits can transfer some dangerous microorganisms to the hands, wiping cloths and utensils, especially chopping boards, as the slightest contact can transfer them to food and cause food-borne diseases.

Separate raw and cooked foods

Keeping raw and cooked food separate cuts down the risk of cross contamination considerably. It is possible that bacteria may pass from raw food onto the hands and then directly to the work surfaces, clothes, equipment, before ultimately getting transferred to the cooked food.

Cook thoroughly

As we all are aware that proper cooking kills almost all micro organisms. Also we should keep in mind that over cooking the food will make it lose it's nutritional values. The recent research studies suggest that the preferred way of cooking food to retain the nutritional value is by steaming. But it can't be used always

Keep food at safe temperatures

It means maintaining the temperature at a level where microbial count is reduced to the minimum or completely stopped. This temperature is about 60 degrees Celsius on the higher side and 5 degrees on the lower side. It is important to keep food at safe temperatures and not store cooked food for long. Also, when you are consuming stored food, ensure it is heated up well before consumption (100 degree Celsius). To avoid food related diseases, refrigeration of cooked food should be minimized along with the habit of keeping cooked food at room temperature for a long time.

Use safe and raw materials

Make sure you use clean water to cook your food. Using safe water, selecting fresh and wholesome food, choosing foods processed for safety like pasteurized milk, washing fruits and vegetables, especially if eaten raw and not using packaged food beyond their expiry date are good safe practices.

Coming down to your favorite restaurant or food joint.
They are no exception cause contamination can happen anywhere.

So Everyone, Take care about what you eat.

From
Citizens Voice

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