Food is an important part of human life and existence; without it, we're as good as dead, and its consumption must also be done wisely to prevent unforeseen circumstances, such as injury, illness, or harm to those who consume the food. And that's where the place of food safety comes into the picture. It's worth knowing that food safety involves many things, but its major purpose is to protect food consumers from harmful chemicals, bacteria, and the like. Another of its purposes is to prevent food contamination and to ensure that the quality of food is good. In this article I'll be talking about my understanding of food safety and everything that revolves around it.
So to start with, I'll be talking about what I understand by food safety. To be fair, it's more or less the first time I'm hearing of this, but I might be wrong because it sounds so familiar; however, my understanding of it is that it's an ideal practice aimed towards preventing food poisoning and reducing food wastage and economic loss. It's also a practice that goes a long way in solidifying consumers' trust. Overall, food safety has to do with ensuring the overall well-being and public health of food consumers.
Talking about how poor storage of food causes illness, I believe there are lots of ways that happens, and one is when we don't store food properly, it gives room for harmful bacteria to grow on it, and when such food is consumed, it'll cause illness. Some food that is stored could get spoiled, but rather than throw it away, some people will still reheat such food and consume it, unknown to them that even if the bacteria in it dies during the reheating, the toxins will remain and could cause illness.
One of the most common among people here is storing raw food like raw meat above cooked ones in the fridge; this usually leads to cross-contamination. When that happens, it'll be one of the biggest causes of foodborne disease.
Personal hygiene plays a huge role in food safety; in fact, it's the backbone of food safety. Without it, I guess we're all at risk of food poisoning and the like. So when dealing with food at any stage, you must be hygienic by ensuring cleanliness, proper separation of raw food from cooked ones, proper cooking of food, and ensuring adequate storage of food in a good and neat environment, be it a store or a fridge.
Like I said earlier, food safety is many things; it's not just in the storage, processing, and making. It also involves consumption; ensuring you wash your hands before eating, dishing food on a neat plate, cooking food to the right stage, and many others are all parts of food safety.
Overall, food safety, like I said, is important for human existence, because it helps prevent foodborne illnesses, protect public health, reduce food wastage, and much more, to name but a few.
All photos are vickoly own property.