New Research Provides Tips for Making Your Home Food Preparation Safer

You are what you eat and this is the reason why it is absolutely essential to make your kitchen the most looked after place in your home. While you cannot do much about food safety when you eat out, home preparation of food can be strictly managed to make the food and your family the healthiest. Small, little precautions in home food preparation can go a long way in preventing the incidence of food-borne diseases for your family . Children and the elderly can be affected adversely by such ailments and these tips can actually be life saving for them.

Here are some research based tips for making your home food preparation safer and healthier:

1.Don’t allow bacteria in your kitchen

Keep your kitchen off-limits for disease causing bacteria, which infest places like the sink, kitchen towels, dustbin, refrigerator and oven handles. The biggest cause of spread of bacteria is cross contamination, which takes place as you touch one surface after the other, transferring thousands of germs and bacteria as you do it. Kitchen towels harbor the maximum number of bacteria, as most of the time, people tend to simply dry their hands with them instead of washing them well enough. Keeping a hand sanitizer in your kitchen can help and so can replacing the kitchen towel several times a day.

2.Wash your hands periodically

Another great tip to keep the disease causing bacteria at bay is to wash your hands after every time you handle food items like raw meat, raw eggs, vegetables and fruits. Also, it is important to wash them after touching surfaces like trash can and sink. Proper washing with soap and warm water is recommended to get rid of the germs completely. Just keeping your hands under the running water is not effective enough.

3.Avoid reusing paper towels

Reusing paper towels might be tempting but it is best to abstain from doing so as you transfer thousands of bacteria to the paper towel as you wipe your hands and the kitchen surfaces with the towel. Once you re-use these paper towels, these germs spread rapidly and can compromise with the safety of your home cooked food as well as your kitchen health.

4.Regular wash care of dish cloth

Besides ensuring good hygiene for your hands, you also need to keep your dish cloth in a hygienic state. Replace the dish cloth a few times in a day, making sure that you wash the used ones with mild detergent and hot water. Hot water is sure to drive out the toughest of germs and bacteria from the dish cloth.

5.The right temperature

It is necessary to be aware about the right temperature at which different food items, such as meat, dairy, fruits and vegetables, are to be kept so that they do not become the breeding ground for disease causing bacteria. Refrigerate the leftovers too and never leave eatables in open.

Keeping all your kitchen equipment, such as the knives, chopping boards, rolling pin and counters, sparkling clean is another way to make your cooking safer for the family . Keep your eyes open about contamination or expiry of food items as a little care and precaution can save your family members from big health problems.