Food Safety Tips for Beginners

Food safety priorities should be put into consideration since the first step in preparing food which is shopping for ingredients. In this step, you should pick the fresh vegetables and fruits which are not contaminated, damaged, or bruised. While buying fish or meats make sure that they are kept in the freezer not in the room temperature. In the same way, while buying watermelons and mixed lettuce bags, make sure that they are kept in the refrigerator or surrounded with ice to make sure of its freshness.

The next step is storing food; it is another important area of knowledge that you should improve for mastering cooking healthy food. There are numerous tips you can make use of in our section "Tips for Storing Food". On top of these tips are:
- Put meat, birds, and fish in a separate place from vegetables and fruits
- Wash all fruits and vegetables well before freezing and keep in tightly closed plastic bags that do not allow fresh air to enter.
- Clean the kitchen tools used for cutting raw meat using hot water and paper towels directly after finishing your work.

For more tips about storing food you can visit Tips for Food Storage.

One of the common myths that almost all the beginners and unprofessional housewives believe in is the fact that food that falls on the ground is still safe as long as you picked it up quickly in less than a minute. This is a meaningless claim because the ground especially in the kitchen is full of viruses and bacteria that is faster than you anyway. Eating food contaminated with such bacteria would result in countless food-borne diseases that you can easily protect yourself and your family from by getting ride of this food.

Another common mistake that has many bad health effects is using the same kitchen tools such as knives and plates for dealing with both raw and cooked meat. This is a very dangerous habit because this allows bacteria to grow in your food after cooking it and affects the taste as well. Another similar bad habit is using the same knife for cutting meats, fish, and birds without cleaning it. This has the same harmful effect on health.

There are many foods that one should cook well to save himself from food-borne diseases such as egg. Eating half-cooked or badly prepared egg makes you suffer from what is known as Salmonella, possibly resulting in intestinal infections, and many other bad health effects. To save your body from egg-borne diseases, make sure that you use fresh eggs, store it in refrigerator, hard boil or cook egg well till the yolk is firm, and cook all the foods containing egg well.