Has your food gone bad? Or has your food had a change in taste recently? During the hot season, these situations are more than likely to happen due to the extremely high temperatures.
Hot and humid weather conditions allow germs to multiply quickly and make food unsafe. Contaminated foods may appear different in taste or smell from safe ones.
For juices and soups, the drink might have more foam and bubbles than usual while for food it may be hard to see but the taste will be sour.
When food gets spoilt one is at a higher risk of getting food poisoning or mild stomaches. Therefore it is recommended to ensure you maintain food remains fresh and tasty.
Ensure cleanliness and hygiene
From food preparation, clean your vegetables once bought from the store before storing them either in the fridge or the pantry.
Make sure the countertops are thoroughly cleaned after each use as most bacteria hide on surfaces.
Wash your hands with soap and clean water, while handling food through intervals of cutting up vegetables or meat.
Separate raw and cooked food
While doing your weekly meal plan preparation or daily meal preparation always ensure to separate raw food especially meat from cooked food.
These meat contain microorganisms that can be transferred to other foods during preparation. For example, you can use different chopping boards and knives for vegetables and meat.
Cook thoroughly
While cooking food especially meats allow the meat to thoroughly boil to kill bacteria. Undercooked meat is not only a carrier of bacteria and worms but also potential for getting spoilt easily.
All food is recommended to be cooked at a temperature of at least 70 degrees Celsius.
Store food well
Always ensure to store your food in well-sealed containers when putting them in the fridge. Don’t just put your saucepan in the fridge.
Ensure that the supper leftovers are also stored in the fridge during night time and avoid leaving food out in the oven due to the high temperatures at night.
A refrigerator set to below 5 degrees Celsius will protect most foods and slow down bacterial growth.
Consumption of fruits and juices
Fruits are more susceptible to rotting during hot weather due to their freshness.
Always ensure to consume fruits as soon as possible especially juicy fruits such as watermelons and pineapples as they go bad easily.
This also applies to fresh juices ensure to drink it immediately within 20-30 mins if homemade and if buying avoid drinks that have stayed longer than 2 hours.