Safe Grocery Shopping
How to handle food safely
According to the Food and Drug Administration, contaminated food causes about 325,000 cases of food poisoning every year in the United State that resulted in more than 5,000 deaths.
But it’s tough to know exactly how many people get sick from food they purchased from the supermarket. People often don’t report food poisoning, especially if it is not serious and they self diagnosis it as something else, such as a case of what seems like the flu. Even if they know they have food poisoning, it can be hard to trace its origin.
You don’t want your loved ones or yourself be stricken by salmonella or E. coli. So what can you do to lower your risk of getting sick from the food you buy at your local grocery store?
Here are a few tips on how to be safe shopping at the grocery store.
- Shop at supermarkets that are clean. If a store smells, or is dirty and dingy, what does that say about the way the store handle its food?
- Do your shopping of nonperishable items first and save frozen foods and perishables such as meat, poultry, fish and eggs for last to prevent them from being at room temperature too long.
- Separate foods to prevent cross contamination. Don’t pile your raw meat, poultry, and seafood on top of food items that are going to serve raw, such as prepackaged salads, or freshly baked bread. It is a good idea to separately bag your produce, and double-bag your raw meat, poultry, and seafood.
- Don’t buy canned goods where the can is bulging or dented, and jars that are cracked or have loose or bulging lids, which most likely will be contaminated with bacteria.
- Don’t buy products that have been on the shelves too long. Look for expiration dates on cans and packaging to make sure they are fresh before putting them in your shopping cart.
- Check the temperature of the refrigerator cases storing the milk and meat to make sure the temperature is between 35-40 °.
- Don’t buy frozen food with damaged or opened packaging. Do not buy a partially thawed package of frozen food.
- Try to avoid prepackaged salads. They are convenient, but have been known to get contaminated and cause food borne illnesses. Prepackaged salads also tend to be more expensive that regular vegetables that you buy to make your own salad.
- Buy only refrigerated eggs. Don’t buy eggs that are cracked or dirty. Open the carton to check each egg.
Even before going to the supermarket or grocery store, make sure you have the right equipment to transport the food home from the store. If you live far from the store and you are buying perishable foods, make sure you bring along a cooler. Go straight home from the store. And once you get home, refrigerate perishable products as soon as possible. Always wash fresh fruits and vegetables as soon as you get home.
After everything is put away, wash your hands thoroughly before handling any other meats or other fresh foods. Use antibacterial wipes or other antibacterial cleaning agents on cutting board, cabinet, anywhere that came in contact with food.
While no one can completely do away with germs and their chance of food poisoning, we can all take some necessary precautions to reduce the possibility of getting sick from the food we buy at the grocery store.
