【Creative Cultivation Program】How to prevent food poisoning in summer?

Author: Wang Qihui

Reviewer: Wang Wei, deputy chief physician of Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital affiliated to Fudan University

Every June, most parts of my country enter the summer, and the weather gets hotter day by day. This season is often the peak season for bacterial foodborne diseases. The primary issue that should be paid attention to at the dining table during this season is: pay attention to raising awareness of food safety, prevent foodborne bacterial diseases from coming to your door, and keep the disease from entering your body through the mouth.

In the scorching summer, when we buy cooked food or make cold dishes at home, or eat leftovers from the previous day or meal, we sometimes get an upset stomach, which is caused by bacterial food poisoning.

There are five main points for food safety: keep containers clean, separate raw and cooked food, cook food safely, store food at safe temperatures, and use safe water and food ingredients. For our daily food preparation in summer, the ambient temperature is very important because the ambient temperature is high. Once food is stored in a high temperature environment for a long time, the bacteria in it will increase by multiples or hundreds of times. If it is eaten before the harmful bacteria are completely killed, the chance of getting sick will increase greatly, and some may even be life-threatening. So what should we pay attention to when buying and preparing food in summer?

First of all, we must strictly control the purchase process. When buying ready-made cooked food, we must choose products with complete packaging, normal sensory organs, normal logos and labels, and within the shelf life. We must choose bulk cooked food from licensed vendors in the free market and cook it thoroughly before eating it after returning home. Vegetables and fruits should be purchased as fresh as possible without rotting or being cut into pieces.

Foods that need to be refrigerated and frozen should not be exposed to room temperature for a long time after purchase. They should be placed in a functioning refrigerator as soon as possible and packaged individually as much as possible. Food poisoning is most commonly caused by various cross-contaminations, so cross-contamination of food in the refrigerator must be avoided. It should be noted here that the refrigerator should be cleaned regularly, and frozen food should not be eaten if it is more than three months old. Low-temperature bacteria are also commonly found in our refrigerators.

When making food, make sure that the ingredients are not spoiled and must be washed before processing. In particular, raw vegetables and fruits must be soaked for 20-30 minutes and washed repeatedly. Use fruit and vegetable cleaning agents when necessary and handle according to relevant instructions. It is very important to control, reduce or even eliminate cross-contamination during food preparation. Knives, cutting boards and tableware must be kept separate from raw and cooked to prevent bacterial food poisoning caused by cross-contamination.

Cold dishes should be cooked and eaten immediately. Raw garlic and vinegar can play a role in sterilization and can be added appropriately. Cooked food should not be stored at room temperature for more than 2 hours. Leftovers after refrigeration should be confirmed to be free of spoilage and then thoroughly heated before consumption. In addition, the nitrite content in overnight dishes will increase, which can easily cause nitrite poisoning. In summer diet, we should pay special attention to the consumption of overnight dishes.

When consuming seafood in the summer, you must be careful not to eat spoiled fish, shrimp, crabs, etc., and try not to eat them raw; if you eat seafood raw, you must choose fresh ingredients, wash them thoroughly, and use vinegar as a dipping sauce to reduce the risk of food poisoning.

Leftover food should be refrigerated in time. The refrigerator temperature should be maintained below 100C as much as possible. It should not be stored at room temperature to avoid the growth of bacteria and bacterial food poisoning.

Personal hygiene is even more important in summer diet. We must develop good personal hygiene habits, wash our hands before meals and after defecation, and also wash our hands in time after handling spoiled food. Do not touch food containers with dirty hands to prevent cross-contamination and food safety risks.

Summer is here, the temperature and humidity are high, and bacteria are actively breeding and multiplying. We must enhance our awareness of self-protection, strictly control the entry of diseases, and prevent food poisoning.

References:

Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China National People's Congress April 29, 2021

"National Standard of the People's Republic of China·National Food Safety Standard" Food Safety Standard and Monitoring and Assessment Department June 16, 2021

General Hygiene Standards for Food Enterprises GB14881-2013 May 24, 2013

This article is produced by the Science Popularization China-Creation Cultivation Program. Please indicate the source when reprinting