The Wonders of Food Poisoning and Preservation

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!