Food: How to eat well in summer?

With the heat, our eating habits change and the cold becomes an asset to fight it. But it is necessary to remain vigilant and maintain good habits in order to avoid food poisoning, as the Ministry of Health and Prevention.

Washing hands, food and utensils, a must

Raw fish, various and varied salads, cold meat, fruit, raw vegetables… are generally our friends in summer. However, vigilance is required since, as the Ministry of Health and Prevention reminds us on his website, some of them may carry micro-organisms (bacteria, parasites, etc.) responsible for unpleasant or even dangerous illnesses. In order to avoid any inconvenience, certain hygiene rules must therefore be observed.

To handle fruits, vegetables, meat, it is necessary to have clean hands. Washing your hands regularly and with soap (at least 20 seconds) is an elementary rule to follow scrupulously. Think about it when you get home from work, especially after taking public transport, after going to the bathroom, before cooking or eating, after doing dirty work or after touching animals. The list is long. So you have to think about it several times a day.

The ideal is also to separate raw and cooked foods by putting them on different cutting boards or dishes. And don’t forget to use clean utensils (cutlery, dishes, pots, etc.).

The conservation of food is a major element to respect in order to avoid any contamination. It is necessary to check the expiry dates of purchased food, carefully wash vegetables and fruit even if they are in trays or bags, store food in suitable containers and at recommended temperatures, separating them according to their category (meat , vegetables, fruits, etc.).

Food and summer: barbecues and raw fish, not always trivial

In this summer period, barbecues are out but be careful when cooking meat and fish. Indeed, “Sausages, meatballs, poultry, minced meat must be cooked through because pathogenic bacteria can survive if they are not cooked thoroughly enough”recommend theHANDLES which notes, each year, an upsurge in cases of foodborne infections during the summer.

Other valuable advice provided by the Ministry of Health and Prevention: “The consumption of wild raw fish exposes you to the risk of parasitosis (anisakidosis). Only their prior freezing for a minimum of seven days in a domestic freezer or thorough cooking can kill the parasites.

The cold chain, an essential reflex

Another important point is not to break the cold chain thanks to a few tipsas :

• never refreeze a thawed product;
• buy frozen products at the end of the shopping, transport them in suitable containers (insulated bag);
• carefully follow the instructions given on the labels of pre-packaged foods, in particular the instructions for storage time and temperature;
• Carefully wrap food intended for later consumption (picnics, for example) and store it in suitable equipment (ice packs, cooler);
• prepare culinary preparations based on raw animal products (mayonnaise for example) at the last moment, keep them cool before serving them and consume them within 24 hours;
• keep delicatessen products, ready meals, cream-based pastries or non-pre-packaged products cool and consume them within 3 days of purchase;
• on the occasion of a picnic, keep food cool (cooler, etc.) for as long as possible;
• do not store prepared foods for more than 2 hours at room temperature.

Regarding raw milk and raw milk cheeses, the Ministry of Health and Prevention recommends not giving it to children, especially those under 5 years old, because of the significant risk of bacterial infection. He insists on the fact that children under the age of 5 should never consume raw milk cheeses (except those with cooked pressed paste such as Emmental, Comté, Abondance, Beaufort, Gruyère, etc., whose manufacturing process , with heating of the milk, allows the destruction of pathogenic germs).

It is clear that respecting these food hygiene precautions will allow you to have a pleasant summer. However, they should not be forgotten the rest of the year.