How to avoid food poisoning during summer

Arrival of summer means more relishing on fruit juices, fruits, mocktails and smoothies to stay hydrated. Not necessary that all these foods are prepared at home. We usually tend to order them when in hotels or simply gorge on them on streetside stalls, be it sugarcane juice, other fruit juices, chaas, fruit salads, kulfi and ice-creams. Summer also announces school vacations and thus our kids set to spend more time in parks and playgrounds. Once thirsty they buy ice golas and fruit drinks from the street vendor stationed outside the park. Thus our outside food intake increases and increases the risk of food poisoning.

Doctors advice patients about special care one should take on how to avoid food poisoning during summer. Temperature rises during summer increasing the risk of food poisoning. Symptoms like vomiting, watery diarrhoea, fever, chills and headache are associated with food poisoning. While some may experience a mild food poisoning, others may get infected with severe food poisoning, its severity depending on the kind of pathogen or bacteria one is infected with.

Special care needs to be taken by people when it comes to preparing and handling food during summers to avoid food poisoning. Here are few tips on how to avoid food poisoning during summer:

Spoiled Food

During summers, due to heat the chances of cooked food getting spoilt is high, hence it becomes necessary to choose the food to be cooked wisely.

 Food served in hotels, restaurants and roadside stalls are exposed to more heat compared to home-cooked food and hence have greater chances of being spoiled. Thus these food items can be totally unsafe and unreliable during summers.

Factors influencing Bacteria and Toxins during Summer

There are various factors that influence bacteria and toxins in food during summers. These factors include poor hygiene and careless cooking practices. People get careless while washing fruits and vegetables before consuming. This influences bacteria and toxins in our food that results in food poisoning. Practices like caring for basic hygiene and storing foods carefully can keep these bacteria at bay and thus  keep us healthy and prevent ailments. Few of such practices that can thus help keeping these bacteria and toxins away from our foods include:

- Washing hands, especially after using toilets and before cooking food.

- Washing foods carefully before cooking.

- Washing fresh fruits carefully before consuming them.

- Storing cooked food immediately after use.

- Washing and cleaning cooking surface and gas tops after cooking.

- Washing chopping boards and knives with soap water immediately after use.

- Storing raw foods separately from cooked food.

- Using canned items and packed items within their expiry dates.

- To cook eggs only until the egg whites and egg yellows look firm.

Tips for avoiding food poisoning during summer

- People tend to store things in refrigerator for longer time than they are supposed to be. Every food item raw, cooked or preserved has a shelf life. So it is advisable to use food items within theit stipulated time.

- Don't leave cooked food outside for more than two hours. 

- Don't store perishable food items like milk and egg on door shelves of fridge. Instead place the egg tray on main shelf of fridge.

- Gorging on outside food is total no-no. Never drink chaas, juices from street vendors. Avoid eating food salads that are left unattended on food stalls.