Notice
By Katharine Hopkins
The same care should be taken when preparing herbal foods as any other food. Plants are classified as lower risk than meat and other animal products, but that doesn’t mean they can’t make you sick.
Herbs have a multitude of benefits and should be consumed daily, so don’t let that put you off. A few simple steps can ensure that you are eating healthy foods that are good for your body. Safe food handling is important whether you are preparing food at home or in a catering business.
What is food poisoning?
Let’s get back to the basics and explore what food poisoning is. We’ve all heard stories of people getting sick after a questionable meal, but what is really causing the reaction?
Food poisoning is our body reacting to toxins that have affected the food. The reaction can be mild or severe depending on the bacteria ingested. The severity of food poisoning differs from person to person. People classified as high-risk consumers include the elderly, pregnant women, young children, and anyone with weakened immune systems. Reactions range from nausea to diarrhea and in some cases can be fatal. It is therefore not something to be taken lightly.
It can be difficult to determine what caused the illness. The bacteria need four things to thrive: time, heat, food and humidity.
High risk foods
You need to be careful when preparing all foods, but the herbal foods below are more likely to harbor harmful bacteria.
Fresh fruits and vegetables – Raw fruits and vegetables are a prime target for bacteria. They can be contaminated at any point in the supply chain. Raw fruits and vegetables can come in contact with contaminated water or the droppings of farm animals or birds. Before reaching store shelves, food may have been handled by a sick person, come into contact with a contaminated surface or utensil, or parasites during processing.
Rice – Dried rice can naturally contain a heat resistant spore. Once cooked, the spores can turn into bacteria that cause food poisoning.
To minimize the risk, rice should be eaten immediately after cooking or cooled within an hour of cooking and stored in the refrigerator. Bacteria need time to grow enough to cause disease, refrigeration slows the growth of bacteria by bringing it below an optimal temperature for multiplying.
Beans and Legumes – Any canned beans or legumes you buy should be safe to eat. They have been treated to prevent food poisoning. However, you should avoid purchasing boxes that are dented or damaged in any way, as this could have allowed air to enter the product.
The risk of food poisoning comes from cooking dried beans and legumes. Red beans are a particularly risky food. Kidney beans naturally contain a toxin that is harmful to us. To avoid getting sick, dried beans should be soaked before boiling to flush out toxins. Slow cooking of raw kidney beans does not remove toxins, so this method of cooking should be avoided.
Tofu – Tofu may sound innocent, but like many other fresh foods, it can go wrong. It is important to use tofu before its expiration date. Signs that the tofu is off are changes in smell, a slimy texture, or a fermented taste. If these are ignored, you could have an unpleasant case of food poisoning on your hands.
Raw shoots – It might sound like a strange high-risk food, but the way beans and legumes are sprouted is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria. They are sprouted in a warm and humid environment and the beaks are often served raw. There is no way to guarantee that the shoot is free from harmful bacteria as it can affect the seed which cannot be cleaned.
If you are serving sprouted products, it is best to cook them before serving. If this is not possible, make sure they are stored properly and avoid giving them to people in high risk categories.
Bread – Bread is a high risk once it starts to mold. Mold should never be ignored on any food product, but bread is one food that mold is seen on more regularly due to its short shelf life. If you notice mold on the bread, all of the bread in the package should be discarded. The mold you can see may just be a small part of what has infected the bread. Mold can spread in bread farther than you can see, and mold spores can contaminate the rest of the bread. It is safer to buy fresh bread than to risk a contaminated slice of bread.
How to store food safely
It is important to store foods according to label directions. Some foods will need to be refrigerated while others will be stored well at room temperature.
When storing food in the refrigerator, cross contamination can still occur. Your refrigerator should be clean to prevent bacteria from entering fresh food.
Food should be separated in the refrigerator. All raw meat products should be on the bottom of the refrigerator to prevent the juice from spilling onto other food products. Foods that will be eaten raw should be on top of the refrigerator, this includes salads and pre-prepared items that will not be heated before being eaten.
Leftover food should be covered and cooled before storing in the refrigerator.
How to prepare and cook food safely
A key area to consider when preparing food is cross contamination. Always make sure your work surfaces and hands are clean before preparing food. To make yourself more aware of different contaminants, use different colored cutting boards and knives for different foods. The key foods that should be kept separate are:
- Raw meat
- Raw fish
- Cooked meat
- Vegetables that are going to be cooked
- Fruits and vegetables that will be served raw
The foods most at risk of contamination are foods that do not require additional cooking, such as salads or fruit. Bacteria can be found in the soil and other contaminants can be found on food. Raw foods should be washed thoroughly in cold water before being prepared.
Ideally, these should be prepared first and stored in sealed containers while the rest of the food is prepared. This eliminates the potential for cross-contamination of other foods like meat or fish during preparation. It is also recommended that if you are preparing foods for a high risk group, especially pregnant women, pre-washed or ready-to-eat foods such as salads or chopped fruit be washed again to remove any bacteria that may have contaminated. the product during production.
All fresh fruits and vegetables should be washed before being prepared and peeled if this is an option. Peeling food is another way to kill possible bacteria.
Cooking food is a key step in eliminating bacteria. The optimum temperatures needed for bacteria to thrive are 8 to 60 degrees C. Once the food has reached over 60 degrees C, the bacteria will begin to die.
Plant-based foods should be cooked according to package directions or until very hot. This is just as important when reheating food.
If you want to learn more about safe food storage and cooking, take a food hygiene course like this (https://essentialfoodhygiene.co.uk/courses/level-2-food-hygiene -and-safety-c Catering /) is great whether you cook at home or as a food business.
The references
About the Author: Katharine Hopkins holds a BSc (2: 1) in Food Marketing Management from Sheffield Hallam University. For his year in the industry as part of my course, I worked in NPD for M&S and Bakkavor. After graduating, she worked for Speedibake (which is part of Associated British Foods) for a year in the NPD. She then did NPD for Premier Foods for two years. Currently she is a Bakery Manager at Seven Hills Bakery in Sheffield, England.