![](https://www.plusonline.nl/sites/plusonline/files/styles/pol_carousel/public/istock_57441188_large.jpg?itok=6ZXSNUV1)
Hygienic shopping and storage tips
Safe handling of food is important because it prevents illness. Safety and hygiene are not only important when preparing food. No, food safety starts in the store.
Wash hands before preparing food and before eating. Keep raw and already prepared foods separate. Heat meat well. It is all very important in the fight against food poisoning and infections, which occur about half a million times a year in the Netherlands and which are very annoying.
But your role in safely handling your food starts much earlier, in the store to be precise. That’s where you buy your food and that’s where your responsibility begins. And once home, make sure you keep your food safe.
Shopping
There are a few things to keep in mind when shopping to avoid spoilage.
Packaging
Always check the expiration date on the packaging before buying anything. If you do intend to eat or drink the product before the expiration date, you can buy the product. When in doubt: don’t do it.
For example, do not buy large packages/portions if you think you will not be able to finish them before the expiry date. That is a shame, because you run the risk of a food infection, or you will have to throw the product away. Another ‘packaging point’: check carefully whether the packaging of a product is not damaged. Damaged packaging accelerates spoilage.
Refrigerated products and frozen products
The following applies: last in, first out. In other words, do not buy these products (meat, fish, milk) until the end of your round through the supermarket and preferably put them in a cool bag. Once you get home, you should put these products away first.
After shopping, go home as soon as possible and put away all the groceries at home immediately.
save
Storage and storage is also important in the process of safely handling your food and drinks. You can read storage advice on the label of a product.
Below are several places where you can store your food. In all cases, it is very important that those places are all clean and that the food is well packed. That way you give bacteria and insects as little chance as possible.
In the fridge
A refrigerator is cool to inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria. The best temperature for your refrigerator is 4 degrees. What should actually be in the fridge? Perishable products such as raw meat, cold cuts, pastries, soft cheese and sliced vegetables should always be kept refrigerated.
Some other fridge tips:
- Put the oldest products first. This is the fastest way to use up your stock.
- Put the most perishable items in the coldest place (refrigerators with *** or **** are the coldest at the bottom and back, fridges with * or ** just at the top) and put less perishable items, such as drinks, in the less cold places .
- Keep raw products well separated from prepared products.
Outside the fridge
Many non-perishable products can be safely stored in the cellar, pantry or kitchen cupboard. Store dry products, such as flour, rice and pasta, tightly closed. ‘Wet’ products will read: keep refrigerated after opening. Once you have opened these products, such as pickles, pesto and sandwich spread, you should store them in the refrigerator afterwards.
A slightly different indication is: keep cool after opening. Then you do not necessarily have to put the product in the refrigerator. A cool cellar or cupboard up to 15 degrees is fine. By the way, it is always important that the temperature does not rise too high, because products that do not need to be refrigerated also spoil faster or dry out at high temperatures.
In the freezer
The freezer inhibits the growth of bacteria, or even stops it completely. A few tips for your freezer:
- Make sure the temperature is below -18 °C.
- Do not put too many products in the freezer at once.
- Do not freeze hot food.
- Keep the portions to be frozen small.
This way the freezer can do its job best, which is to monitor the quality of your food. And finally, if you take something out of the freezer, let it thaw in the fridge.