The minimum things you can do to avoid food poisoning are:
- Do not eat or drink uncooked food from outside
- Do not eat anything cooked long time ago
What is Food poisoning?
Food poisoning is very common in summer specially due to the favorable environment for the bacteria to grow in the food and release toxins. The bacterial growth is favored in hot and humid environment. Thus, food is highly susceptible to contain bacterial growth in summers.
Food poisoning can be life threatening too if left unmanaged, specially in children and old age patients.
There are around 250 different infections and diseases that come under the symptoms of food poisoning. Most of them are caused by bacteria such as Salmonella, Shigella, E.coli, Campylobacter, Listeria, Botulism and norovirus, etc.
Signs and symptoms of Food poisoning
Signs and symptoms of food poisoning include:
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Malaise
- Abdominal cramps or pain
- Fever
- Dehydration (specially if vomiting and diarrhea left untreated)
Consult a doctor immediately if you experience any of the symptoms of food poisoning to avoid any complication.
Tips to avoid Food poisoning this summer
Food poisoning is dangerous. However, it can be prevented easily through proper measures and food handling. Taking care of the food that you consume and eat is specially important in summers to avoid food poisoning.
Certain tips to avoid food poisoning include:
- Don’t let your fridge or freezer to gain temperature. Also, don’t let them turn off. Once the food in it gets warmer, the chances of bacterial growth enhance a lot!
- Don’t eat from outside. Avoid restaurants of all sort, even if their meal seems appealing. You never know how the raw material was managed. Where was it kept, was the food recooked or not? If yes then after how long? Etc. So simply avoid getting into trouble!
- Get food home quickly or consume where cooked, so that there is minimum time for the bacteria to proliferate in it
- Keep the raw meat, chicken and sea food separately from the cooked ones. So that the chances of bacterial transfer are minimized
- Don’t stuff your fridge. Stack things properly but leave a room for air in it!
- Don’t keep the leftovers forever! Consume the food on time and avoid keeping any left overs over a couple of days
- Accept that not all food as to be saved as left over. Some foods get infected quickly and should be avoided being stored again as left over. At least for a longer period of time
- Don’t let anyone having the symptoms of food poisoning or any other infection handle or cook your food.
- Don’t handle or cook food for anyone else if you’re experiencing the symptoms of food poisoning or any other infection!
- Avoid foods that spoil easily! Ask your grandma for the list of those items and more tips too!
- Don’t forget to wash and cook meal thoroughly before eating ofcourse!
- Wash your hands before every meal and before handling or cooking any food!
Conclusion
Food poisoning can be avoided by following simple hygienic and common sense stuff. However once you develop the symptoms of food poisoning it’s important that you visit the doctor immediately before any complication sets in!