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Photo Credit:Coastal Appliance Repair |
I
recall as a kid,my mum would often scold I and my siblings “if I catch any of
you putting your hand inside the pot of soup, you will get the beating of your
life,do you want to spoil the food?” I really never understood how putting of
fingers into a pot of soup could ruin it?"
Kids would always be
kids, so we sometimes ignore her warning and still put our fingers into the
whole pot of soup,maybe just to scoop some to taste it or pick a piece of
meat*wink wink*hey,stop laughing and thinking that this woman,so you used to
steal meat from the pot!Olehhhhh(laughs)I’m sure you,I mean you,reading this
article did such too,no doubt!
Again
I recalled a day when I heard my Mother in-law scolding her little niece”why
are you using the tongue to lick a spoon
that you intend to put into the soup?Don't you know the soup will go rancid?
After hearing this,I became curious to know more on how micro organism
contaminates foods through our seemingly careless actions.
So
I engaged my hubby on this issue and he gave me an insight from his medical and
public health expertise view.He said natural organisms found on the tongue are
quite active as well as those on our hands.These unseen organisms when they
come in contact with our foods, begin to grow especially when such food is not
properly preserved either by heating or refrigerating.
A
little carelessness like "it me lick this sweet taste off my cooking
spoon" and dipping it without rinsing the spoon could cost you that your
favorite and good money spent meal!Not to talk of food poisoning especially
vegetables when not not properly washed, can upset your stomach gravely.Others
are fruits with high acidic contents;they can easily go rancid if not properly
preserved or void of organism contact from our hands or tongue.One of the most
scary food poisoning is when you consume a rancid milk or yoghurt.This has lead
to the deaths of many persons and that why it is wise to read the preservation
instructions of packaged foods or drinks to avoid such fatal accidental
ingestion.
The
essence of this post is to reawaken our consciousness to certain salient
healthy issues we may be taking for granted.This is also to add to existing
knowledge on various food preservation methods and here below are some tips on
how to store certain food items:
- Wrap vegetable leaf in a large paper (newspaper especially) and then put it in a polythene bag to retain freshness,firmness even in a freezer.
- Crayfish should be kept in a plastic container.
- Ginger and garlic should be kept in a porous container to prevent moisture from forming.
- Milk preservation is delicate and rancid milk can lead to fatal food poison.Never toy with the preservation of dairy product hence incase there is power outage,place the container of your milk or yoghurt inside a bowl of water to discourage organisms from growing.
- Achi (soup thickener)should be kept in a fridge or very cool place.
- Beans can be kept in a fridge or freezer, well covered in a plastic container.The cold temperature will wade off beans weevils.
Our wonderful and
loyal reader,can you tell us what other food preservation methods not mentioned
here?We love to hear from you as your input might be a life saver.Have a great
week ahead!
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