During this pandemic period, many steps can be taken to prevent transmission of COVID-19. One of them is by reducing eating out habits and switch to processing our own food. It is healthier, and budget-saving, as well.
Here are five keys of safe food-serving according to WHO.
- Maintain cleanliness of our hands and cooking environment.
We certainly understand the need to wash hands frequently; but there are more things that also need to be considered in cooking preparation, including washing food (which can be washed) before starting cooking, maintaining clean cooking utensils, removing trash (especially around the cooking area) and sweeping and mopping the kitchen or cooking environment .
- Separating raw and cooked foods when storing and preparing cooking.
Raw foods such as beef, poultry, seafood, can release liquids that may contain harmful microbes and can contaminate other food (cross contamination) during processing and storage. In addition to storing in separate containers, the steps that can be taken are always to use separate knives and cutting boards to process raw and cooked food, as well as washing equipment that has been used to process raw food before processing cooked food so that contamination between raw food and cooked food can be avoided.
- Cook until completely cooked.
The cooking process not only makes food tastier, but also helps eliminate harmful microorganisms. Make sure that you cook at the right temperature for each food. However, it would be better if the cooking process is not done too long (overcook) to maintain the nutritional content that is in food to remain optimal.
- Keep food according to the temperature needed. For food to be served, it must be heated to at least 70 ° C or boiled, especially meat, chicken, fish, eggs, seafood, while frozen food must be stored at freezing temperatures).
- When cooking, only use fresh raw materials and clean water.
Source: World Health Organization, 2020
Article by the Wellness Team – Fullerton Health Indonesia
