WHO advises

WorldHeolth r 50thYeor, No. l, lonuory-Februory 1997 WHO qduises ooo Moke sure your food is safe to eot oodborne diseoses ore omong the mo$ widespreod heolth problems in the modern world (see orticle on poge I 5). ln both rich ond poor countries, they con couse mild indispositions or they moy be fotol. Food con be contominoted with chemicols or by o wide ronge of bocterio, viruses ond porosites. Hygienk preporotion of food is esentiolto good heolth. WHO hos issued o list of 1 0 "golden rules" for sofe food preporolion, os follows. The WHO golden rules for sofe food preporolion l. Anose fods pocessed lor sofety While mony foods, such os fruit ond vegetobles, ore be$ in their noturol $ote, others simply ore not sofe unles they hove been processed. For exomple, olwoys buy po$eurized os opposed to row milk ond, if you hove the choice, select fresh or frozen poultry treoted with ionizing rodiotion. When shopping, keep in mind thot food procesing wos invented to improve sofety os well os to prolong shelf'life. Certoin foods eoten row, such os lettuce, need thorough woshing. 2. Cookfoodthoroughly Mony row foods, mo$ notobly poultry, meots, ond unpo$eurized milk, moy be contominoted with diseosetousing orgonisms. Thorough cooking will killthe pothogens, but remember thot the temperoture ol oll ports of the food must reoch ot leo$ /0"[. lf cooked chicken is still row neor the bone, put it bock in the oven until itt done - oll the woy through. Frozen meot, fish, ond poultry mu$ be thoroughly thowed before cooking. 3. Eot cooked loods imnefrotely When cooked foods coolto room temperoture, microbes begin to proliferote. Ihe longer the woit, the greoter the risk. Io be on the sofe side, eot cooked foods iu$ os soon os they come off the heot. 4. Store cooked loods corelully lf you mu$ prepore foods in odvonce or wont to keep leftoven, be sure to store them under either hot (neor or obove 60'C) or cool (neor or below I 0"[) conditions. Ihis rule is of vitol importonce if you plon to store foods for more ihon four or five hours. foods for infonts should preferobly not be stored ot oll. A common error, responsible for countles coses of foodborne diseose, is putling loo lorge o quonlity of worm food in ttre refrigerotor. ln on overburdened refrigerotor, cooked foods connot cool to the core os quickly os they mu$. When the centre of food remoins worm (obove I0'C) too long, microbes ttrrive, quickly proliferoting to diseosecousing levels. 5. Reheot cooked loods thoroughly This is your be$ protecfion ogoinst microbes thot moy hove developed during $oroge (proper storoge slows down microbiol growth but does not kill the orgonisms). 0nce ogoin, thorough reheoting meons thot oll ports of the food mu$ reoch ot leost /0"C. 5. Avoid contoct between row lnds aml cooked loods Sofely cooked food con become contominoted through even the slightest contoct with row food. This crostontominotion con be direct, os when row poultry meot comes into contoct with cooked foods. lt con olso be more subtle. For exomple, don't prepore o row chicken ond then use the some unwoshed cutting boord ond knife to corve the cooked bird. Doing so con reintroduce the diseosecousing orgonisms. 7. Wosh honds repeotedly Wosh honds thoroughly before you $ort preporing food ond ofter every interruption - especiolly if you hove to chonge the boby or hove been to the toilet. After preporing row foods such os fish, meot, or poultry, wosh ogoin before you $ort hondling other foods. And if you hove on infection on your hond, be sure to bondoge or cover it before preporing food. Remember, too, thot household pets - dogs, cots, birds, ond especiolly turtles - often hofiour dongerous potfrogens thot con pos from your honds into food. 8. Keep oll kitchen surloces neticulously cleon Since foods ore so eosily contominoted, ony surfoce used for food preporotion mu$ be kept obsolutely cleon. Think of every food scrop, crumb or spot os o potentiol reservoir of germs. Cloths thot come into contoct with dishes ond utensih should be chonged frequently ond boiled before reuse. Seporote clottrs for deoning ttre floors olso require frequent woshing. 9. Protect loods fron insects, rodents, ond other onimals Animols frequently cony pothogenic microorgonisms which couse foodborne diseose. Storing foods in dosed contoiners is your be$ proteclion. 10. Use sole woler Sofe woter is iust os importont for food preporolion os for drinking. lf you hove ony doubts obout the woter supply, boil woter before odding it to food or moking ice for drinks. Be especiolly coreful with ony woter used to prepore on infontt meol. The WHO golden rules for sofe food preporolion ore ovoiloble os o wollchort. Copies ore ovoiloble in Arobic, Chinese, English, French, Germon, lfolion, Portuguese or Sponish. WHO's odvtce for food hondlers ond coterers is contoined tn o leoflet on Hygiene in food service ond moss cotering estoblishments. The leaflet is olso produced tn the form of o wollchort ond is ovotloble in Arobic, Chinese, English, French, Russion or Sponish. The wollchort on sofe food preporotion ond the leoflet and wallchart for caterers ore ovoiloble free of chorge by writing to Food Sofefy Unil, WHO, l2l I Genevo 27, Switzerlond