Preparing Foods At Carnival Time

 Preparing foods at carnival time may be both challenging and exciting since it may involve preparing food for individuals, families, friends and other gatherings. Food may be prepared at home and served, brought to the event, or prepared and served at the gathering. Food that is mishandled can cause very serious consequences for all, especially, infants, young children, older adults, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems. For this reason it is important that foodhandlers be especially careful when preparing and serving food. Precautionary Measures To Reduce The Risk Of Foodborne Diseases At Carnival Time When preparing food for your special Carnival event, remember that there may be an invisible enemy ready to strike. It's called bacteria and it can make you sick. But by following four simple steps, you can keep your food safe.

* Clean, Wash Hands & Surfaces Often Wash produce, that is, fresh fruits and vegetables in running tap water to remove visible dirt and grime. Remove and discard the outermost leaves of a head of lettuce or cabbage. Because bacteria can grow well on the cut surface of fruit or vegetable, be careful not to contaminate these foods while slicing them up on the cutting board and avoid leaving cut produce at room temperature for many hours. Don't be a source of foodborne pathogen yourself. Wash your hands with soap and water before preparing food. Avoid preparing food for others if you yourself have a diarrheal illness. Changing a baby's diaper while preparing food is a bad idea that can easily spread illness.

* Separate Raw & Ready-to-eat Foods-Don't Cross Contaminate Don't cross-contaminate one food with another. Avoid cross-contaminating foods by washing hands, utensils and cutting boards after they have been in contact with raw meat or poultry and before they touch another food. Put cooked meat on a clean platter, rather back on one that held the raw meat.

* Cook To Proper Internal Temperatures Cook meat, poultry and eggs thoroughly. Using a thermometer to measure the internal temperature of meat is a good way to be sure that it is cooked sufficiently to kill bacteria. For example, ground beef should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160o F. Eggs should be cooked until the yolk is firm.

* Chill & Refrigerate Promptly Refrigerate leftovers promptly. Bacteria can grow quickly at room temperature, so refrigerate leftover foods if they are not going to be eaten within 4 hours. Large volumes of food will cool more quickly if they are divided into several shallow containers for refrigeration.



About the author:

Dr Pattron is a Public Health Scientist, Ministry of Health, Trinidad, West Indies

 Dr Deryck D. Pattron, Ph.D.

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