Stay safe by avoiding food poisoning

Getting food poisoning is an awful feeling. Luckily, it's very preventable and here's how you can avoid it - or treat it if you get it.

Most commonly, food poisoning occurs from eating food that's been contaminated by bad bacteria or viruses. If it's the wrong kind or too much, then it can cause disease from either rapidly multiplying inside or your body or releasing harmful toxins. Luckily, preventing food poisoning is really easy.

Keep your prep area clean

Anytime you're dealing with foods, it's very important to ensure your work area is as clean as possible. This means separating raw and cooked foods, washing your hands after handling raw food (like chicken or pork), cleaning off surfaces anytime a potential food poisoning-causing food touches it (like raw eggs) and keeping pets away. If anything gets contaminated, take a minute to clean the area so you don't risk bacteria or viral transference.

Keep yourself clean and tidy

Just as you would take care in keeping your prep area clean, make sure you apply the same practice to yourself. If you go to the bathroom, touching the garbage out for a cigarette or sneeze or blow your nose, treat the situation as though you've contaminated yourself and your work area. Usually, washing your hands thoroughly will do the trick, but it never hurts to wipe down everything else just to be on the safe side.

Store foods properly

Rarely can foods be left at room temperature - they usually have to be stored at cool temperatures so the growth of bacteria and viruses is greatly slowed. The ideal fridge temperature should be around or below 5C; if you've prepared enough food that there are leftovers, get them in the fridge within 90 minutes of cooking.

How you store foods in your fridge and freezer also makes a difference. Don't pack things in there so tightly air can't circulate and cool everything down. Rather, arrange them neatly so there's several inches of space in between the items and the surrounding surfaces.

Lastly, place the foods with the most potential for contamination from the bottom up. This means things like eggs and raw meat should be on the bottom level, while cooked foods and other "safe" items can be placed higher up. Doing this can help prevent leaks and spills.

Don't consumed expired foods

It can be tempting to stretch food past its best-by date, but that date is put there for a reason. Nutritionists have spent a lot of time figuring out when bacteria and viruses start multiplying to unsafe levels so you don't have to get food poisoning. Even if it looks, smells or tastes okay, don't take the chance.

Cook food thoroughly

One of the most sure-fire ways you can ward off food poisoning is to cook foods thoroughly so bacteria and viruses don't have a chance to grow and multiply. Each type of food has its own temperature point at which it's been completely cooked, but generally speaking, you shouldn't see any pink  or "raw" colour inside. Using a food thermometer helps greatly in reaching this point if you don't want to use visual cues.

Just a little bit of foresight and preparation can go a long way in helping to prevent food poisoning. If you do happen to get it, talk to your doctor about the best way to treat it so you can get back to feeling better again.