Food Safety practices during MCO

While we are staying at home to avoid COVID-19 infection, do not forget to have correct food safety practices so to keep ourselves healthy and prevent ourselves from food poisoning. Some practices, perhaps looks not important. However, food poisoning would happen if it is not done correctly.

Practice 1: Always wash hands. Practise 7 steps of hand washing before preparing food, after visiting toilet, before having meal, or when hands are dirty and sticky (with sweat).

Practice 2: Buy foods according to needs and the suitability only. Avoid bulk purchasing. When choosing packaged food, read the label and expiry date properly.

Practice 3: Clean the vegetable and fruits with running water. Make sure every food surfaces are rinsed so that could wash away the dirts or chemical that might be sticked on. However, do not wash the food with soap.

Practice 4: Clean the vegetable with running water or dip in hot water for 10-15 minutes to kill bacteria. Bacteria couldn't survive in high temperature.

Practice 5: Clean cooking tools such as chopping board, pan, pot, spoon and so on before preparing food in order to avoid cross contamination with bacteria and virus. Always make sure the tools are clean and was put in place which is not wet. As high humidity will incur fungi and bacteria growth.

Practice 6:

Avoid eating food which is placed more than 4 hours in room temperature. When food is done so, the food temperature decreased to room temperature which allow bacteria growth. Each bacteria could multiply to double in 20 minutes. Food should be consumed within 2 hours or reheat.

Practice 7: Cover food with food cover to avoid pest such as fly and cockroaches touching the food or airborne contamination, which causing food poisoning.

Practice 8: Practise See, Smell and Taste if there is sign of food deteriorate such as odour smell and stale. Also, be alert when the food tasted differently than usual taste or smell.

Practice 9: Store food correctly in refrigerator and kitchen wardrobe. Make sure there is no pest like mouse and cockroaches. High risk food should be stored at freezer where the temperature is below 0oC. Kitchen wardrobe should be in good condition that no pest could enter it. Kitchen area should be clean and dry as much as possible to avoid attraction of pest.

Practice 10: Keep extra food into refrigerator and keep the temperature at 4oC or below. Bear in mind that hot food should be cooled for a while before putting into the refrigerator. This is to avoid the refrigerator's temperature from increasing and delaying the cooling of all foods in the refrigerator.

Maintaining food quality is important wherever we are. Many practice looks unnecessarily but it could be the cause of food poisoning. Therefore, we should make sure every concerns are complied.

Credit: Food Safety and Quality Division, Ministry of Health