World Food Safety Day 2023: 6 steps to assure protection of eatables

World Food Safety Day is marked on 7 June every year to bring attention to food standards. Each year, 1 in 10 people across the globe suffer from food-borne illness, so food standards go a long way in protecting us.

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The theme for World Food Safety Day 2023 is "Food Standards Save Lives". It emphasises the importance of food standards in safeguarding lives and preventing food contamination.

We all have a role to play in promoting food safety. Governments, retailers, food producers and consumers must work together to ensure that the food we buy and eat is safe. According to WHO, here are six main steps to ensure the safety standard of food items.

1. Choose processed foods for safety:

Some foods, like fruits and vegetables, are best when having them totally raw and unprocessed, while others are safer if consumed after getting processed. When shopping, select the apt and proper brand of processed milk over raw milk and processed poultry if possible.

2. Cook food properly:

Cooking raw foods in an appropriate manner will kill pathogens, but be sure enough to reach a temperature of at least 70°C for all parts of the food.

3. Eat cooked food on time:

In simple terms, home-cooked food should be eaten at that apt time. It should be hotter than 60 °C. The home-cooked food then can also be cooled down, covered and stored in the fridge or freezer.

4. Store cooked food properly:

Keep leftovers under either hot (near or above 60 °C) or cold (near or below 10° c) conditions if you are frequently just making and preparing the food in advance. You must follow this rule if you do have to store foods for longer than four hours.

5. Reheating cooked food appropriately:

Once again, thorough reheating means all parts of the food must reach 70°C to prevent bacteria from developing during storage (proper storage slows down microbe growth but doesn't kill them).

6. Do not mix raw and cooked foods:

Cross-contamination can occur directly when raw poultry meat comes into contact with cooked food, or it can be subtle.