Food Safety Tips for the 2025 Snake Spring Festival

Five things to do for safe eating

There are five things you should do to ensure food safety during the Spring Festival.

Keep it clean

Remember to wash your hands frequently, keep tableware and kitchen utensils clean, and keep the refrigerator, kitchen and dining environment clean.

Separate raw and cooked food

Food raw materials and processed food should be separated, the kitchen utensils and containers used for processed food should be separated into raw and cooked food, and refrigerated food should be packaged individually and placed separately, cooked food on top and raw food on the bottom, to avoid cross contamination.

Cook thoroughly

Foods such as meat, poultry, eggs, and aquatic products must be properly processed and cooked thoroughly before eating.

Scientific food preservation

Cooked food should not be stored at room temperature for more than 2 hours; cooked food that has been stored at room temperature or in the refrigerator should be thoroughly heated before being consumed again.

Reliable food ingredients

Purchase livestock, poultry and aquatic products, non-moldy staple food, beans and potatoes, as well as fresh vegetables and fruits from regular channels.

Adequate nutrition and diverse food

Combine coarse and fine food, eat more beans and potatoes

On the basis of refined grains such as refined rice and white flour, whole grains such as brown rice and whole wheat can be appropriately matched. This combination can not only increase the nutrients of the staple food, but also enrich the flavor of the staple food, such as the wheat flavor produced by whole wheat. In daily staple food, you can also alternate or match it with other ingredients such as beans and potatoes. Beans are rich in lysine, and eating them with grains can achieve amino acid complementarity. Potatoes are rich in substances such as pectin, and eating them with grains can promote intestinal peristalsis and prevent constipation.

Vegetables and fruits are accompanied by a variety of varieties

Vegetables and fruits are rich in vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber, and are indispensable for three meals a day. When choosing vegetables, try to ensure that they are diverse and colorful. Root vegetables such as yam, stem vegetables such as lotus root, leafy vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower such as broccoli, and fruit vegetables such as tomatoes are more beneficial to health when eaten together. It is recommended to have fresh vegetables at every meal and eat fruit every day.

Fresh meat, safe processing

Meat from livestock, poultry, fish and shrimp is an indispensable delicacy on the holiday table. The nutritional content of various meats is different, so it is recommended to treat them differently when purchasing or eating. Generally speaking, fish and shrimp with low fat content and rich in unsaturated fatty acids are preferred; followed by poultry with low fat content and better fatty acid composition than livestock fat; and again, lean livestock meat with low fat content and rich iron content. At the same time, it is recommended to use more cooking methods such as steaming, boiling and stewing, and less frying, baking and frying. In order to ensure the flavor and nutrition of fresh livestock, poultry, fish and shrimp, it is advisable to purchase them on demand and eat them immediately after purchase. Repeated thawing of frozen meat and aquatic products can easily lead to nutrient loss and deterioration of quality. They should be stored separately in small packages in the refrigerator and consumed as soon as possible.

Balanced diet and more exercise

Reasonable combination and moderate diet

The daily diet should be diverse, with cereals as the main food, more fruits and vegetables, regular consumption of milk, beans or their products, moderate consumption of fish, poultry, eggs, lean meat, and appropriate increase in foods rich in high-quality protein, vitamins and minerals to meet the energy and nutrients required by the human body. A combination of meat and vegetables, coarse and fine foods, a variety of colors, a small amount of each food, and eating the same kind of ingredients in rotation will help to diversify the food. Eat moderately and do not overeat.

Advocate "three reductions", quit smoking and limit alcohol consumption. Eat a light diet, no more than 5 grams of salt and 25-30 grams of cooking oil per day for adults; it is recommended that the daily intake of sugar should not exceed 50 grams, and it is best to control it below 25 grams. It is recommended that adults drink 7-8 glasses of water (200 ml per glass) every day, and it is recommended to drink boiled water. Children, adolescents, pregnant women, and nursing mothers should not drink alcohol. If adults drink alcohol, the amount of alcohol consumed by men should not exceed 25 grams per day, and that by women should not exceed 15 grams.

Balance eating and exercise, healthy weight

People of all ages should exercise every day to maintain energy balance and a healthy weight. Being underweight or overweight increases the risk of disease. Keep exercising every day, such as walking, running, playing ball, etc. Try to reduce sedentary time and avoid watching TV or surfing the Internet for a long time. During the Spring Festival, it is advisable to maintain a regular schedule and get enough sleep.

Tips: Seafood such as shrimp, crab, and shellfish are indispensable in the diet during the Spring Festival, but when eating them, please note that certain parts are not edible.

Shrimp

Shrimp is rich in protein, and the edible part is the muscle in the tail limb. Generally, the shrimp shell, shrimp head, shrimp thread and other parts are removed.

Shrimp head

It contains the main internal organs of shrimp (heart, stomach, hepatopancreas, etc.), which are mainly responsible for the metabolic function of the shrimp and are not suitable for consumption.

Shrimp thread

There is often a black line on the back of shrimp, which is the shrimp's digestive tract. The residues in it include undigested food, digested food residues, and mud and sand. If the shrimp thread is not removed, it will taste bitter or muddy when eaten, affecting the taste of the shrimp, and it is not recommended to eat it. However, as long as it is fully cooked at high temperature and cooked thoroughly, the shrimp thread will not cause harm to human health.

Shrimp Shell

Shrimp shells are hard and protect the muscles of the shrimp body. They are generally not eaten directly when steamed or boiled. Grilled shrimps, fried shrimps, etc. usually become crispy and can be eaten with the shell. Shrimp shells contain minerals such as calcium, which can supplement some of the human body's trace nutrients.

Crabs

Crab meat is high in protein and low in fat. When eating, please note that the crab shell, crab gills, crab stomach, crab intestines and crab heart are usually removed.

Crab gills

The strips you see after opening the crab shell are the crab's respiratory organs and are not edible.

Crab stomach

The triangular bag located in the front half of the crab shell, below the eyes, is the crab's digestive organ and should not be eaten.

Crab intestines

The black strips, partly hidden in the crab roe and partly extending to the crab navel, are the crab's digestive organs. The crab intestines contain food residues and other excrement, which are not suitable for consumption.

Crab Heart

In the middle of the crab roe, there is a hexagonal piece covered with a black film, which is often connected with the crab paste. The crab heart is a key part of the crab's blood circulation and is often considered the coldest part of the crab and should not be eaten.

shellfish

There are many types of shellfish with high nutritional value. The filter-feeding characteristics of shellfish make it easy for them to accumulate pathogenic bacteria, shellfish toxins and heavy metal elements from the environment. Depending on the type, it is recommended to remove the corresponding parts when eating. Here are some common shellfish as examples.

abalone

The green internal organs of abalone often contain photosensitizing toxins, which can easily cause allergic reactions such as dermatitis. It is recommended to remove them when eating.

scallop

The skirt (mantle) of the scallop contains a lot of dirt, so try not to eat it raw. It can be eaten after heating. The digestive gland is the black part, so it is recommended to remove it and it is not suitable for consumption.

mussels

The black flocs in mussels are the stomach and intestines, which contain undigested food and feces produced by metabolism of the mussels. They may also contain fine sand. It is recommended to remove them when eating.

Oyster

The soft part of the oyster is edible, and the green substance in the internal organs is algae and undigested food residue, which generally does not cause harm to health.