Food Safety at Home

Posted by Wei Yin Wong Oct 19, 2008

To make myself useful as an involved parent, I help out regularly at the kids' school. One of the volunteering jobs is helping out at the school canteen. The canteen operator takes food safety seriously - she has to, it is part of her job. Food inspector regularly visits to ensure food safety regulations are adhered to. So the kids at school are pretty safe eating food bought from the canteen.

When helping out, volunteers also must follow rules - thorough hand washing before handling food, wearing disposable gloves, tying up long hair, covering open cuts on the hand with clear colored bandages, etc.

And that begs the question - do we do all that in our own homes when we prepare food? Granted, most responsible parents will do whatever they can to prevent food poisoning and ensure food safety in their children. But when parents are too busy, some tend to take shortcuts that may have dire consequences. I'm guilty of that every now and then. Luckily, my family has escaped serious food poisoning thus far. But I've resolved not to do it any more. Here some useful tips:

• Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water and dry them properly before handling food.
• Wash kitchen utensils with hot water.
• Use separate chopping boards for meats and vegetables.
• Sterilized baby bottles until at least the baby is 3 months old.
• Use different dish cloths for different surfaces, eg one for the floor, one for the dining table and one floor the kitchen counter. Color code them to make things easier.
• Take out portions of food needed only. Keep the rest in the fridge until you need it.
• Throw away leftovers.
• Check the expiry date of commercial food.
• Teach young children about food hygiene.

I know, it's mostly common sense. But sometimes we do need to remind ourselves what's best for the family.