Food cleanliness or famously known as food hygiene is referred to as handling, storing and preparing food and beverages in hygienic and systematic ways. Food cleanliness is important to be taken seriously by everyone — the responsibility of maintaining food cleanliness is not only relied on the food and beverages staff or food and beverages production staff.
It is because by adhering to the enforcement of food cleanliness, we can minimize the risk of falling sick due to food-borne diseases such as food and drink contamination, or poisoning. In this article, we are delighted to share with you the aspects of food cleanliness that you and we should take seriously. One of the aspects that are mentioned in this article is by storing certain food in an air tight container.
i) Having Good Personal Hygiene
One of the aspects of ensuring food cleanliness that we should not take lightly is having good personal hygiene. Having and practicing good personal hygiene is essential not only for the health of our skin but also it is implied on the health of our bodies. This fundamental aspect should be practised by everyone before preparing and serving food or drink. We should regularly wash our hands with clean water and antibacterial handwash (it is recommended strongly!). Next, if we need to change and clean baby’s pampers, please do not do the cleaning and changing session in a food storage area or food handling area. Do not smoke, spit or chew gum in the food storage area or food handling area. Do not forget to make sure to keep our nails short. For more information that is related to good personal hygiene, we could refer to any reading source that is reliable.
ii) Washing Kitchen and Cooking Utensils
We should keep in our mind to wash kitchen equipment and cooking utensils regularly after using them. By washing the equipment before and after cooking; after cleaning kinds of seafood such as fish and squids; after chopping vegetables and cutting fruits; the kitchen equipment and cooking utensils that we use could be contaminated with certain bacteria that we were never aware of. Aside from washing kitchen and cooking utensils regularly, we are suggested to use separate kitchen utensils for preparing wet and dry foods. The common step to prevent food cross-contamination is by using separate cutting boards for fruits, vegetables, and kinds of seafood.
iii) Storing Food in Airtight Containers
Controlling insects and pests is another important food hygiene tip to remember, as these creatures are frequently seen in our homes, particularly in places like fridge corners, kitchen cupboards, shelves, and dark corners of the kitchen. Cockroaches, flies, and rodents, as we all know, are terrible insects and pests; they can spread pathogens from one surface to another, resulting in foodborne illness. For this reason, it is always a good idea to store food in airtight containers, cover pots containing food, spray the shelves, and clean our refrigerator whenever we notice any foul odor or dripping.
Remember that food cleanliness does matter a lot to ensure the maintenance of our safety and health during consuming food and drink.