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Chapter
Bacteria
These are small single-celled organisms. Bacteria are found almost everywhere on Earth and are
vital to the planet's ecosystems. Some species can live under extreme conditions of temperature
and pressure. The human body is full of bacteria, and in fact is estimated to contain more
bacterial cells than human cells.
Harmful bacteria are called pathogenic bacteria because they cause disease and illnesses like
strep throat, staph infections, cholera, tuberculosis, and food poisoning.
Probiotics are live bacteria that are good for us, that balance our good and bad intestinal
bacteria, and that aid in digestion of food and help with digestive problems, such as diarrhea and
bellyache. Bacteria that are examples of probiotics are Lactobacilli and Bifidobacterium.
raw and cooked meat, or foods containing meat such as casseroles, curries and
lasagne
dairy products such as milk, custard and dairy‐based desserts
seafood (excluding live seafood)
processed or cut fruits and vegetables, such as salads
cooked rice and pasta
foods containing egg, beans, nuts or other protein‐rich food such as quiche and soy
products
foods that contain any of the above foods including sandwiches and rolls.
Be aware of how you prepare, store and serve these foods at home, for picnics, when
packing school lunch boxes, donating to charities, or taking food home in doggy
bags from restaurants.
Seafood
Seafood can have different types of toxins, that occur naturally in fish, which can be
hard to identify.
Always purchase seafood from a reputable seller. The fish should have clear
unsunken eyes and firm flesh. Keep the fish refrigerated until it is to be used.
Foodborne illnesses can be caused by any of:
Contaminants
Improper food handling practices
Food allergies
Food contaminants can be:
Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water (warm or cold) and dry them:
Wash worktops, knives and utensils before and after preparing food, particularly after they've
been touched by raw meat (including poultry), raw eggs, fish and vegetables.
Wash dishcloths
Wash dishcloths and tea towels regularly, and let them dry before you use them again. Dirty,
damp cloths are the perfect place for germs to spread.
Use separate chopping boards
Use a separate chopping board to prepare raw food, such as meat and fish. This is to avoid
contaminating ready-to-eat foods with harmful bacteria that can be present in raw food before
it has been cooked.
It's especially important to keep raw meat away from ready-to-eat foods, such as salad, fruit
and bread.
This is because these foods will not be cooked before you eat them, so any bacteria that get
onto the foods from the raw meat will not be killed.
Always cover raw meat and store it on the bottom shelf of the fridge, where it cannot touch or
drip onto other foods.
Make sure poultry, pork, burgers, sausages and kebabs are cooked until steaming hot, with no
pink meat inside. Do not wash raw meat (including chicken and turkey) before cooking, as
this can spread bacteria around your kitchen.
Freezing raw chicken reduces the levels of campylobacter bacteria but does not
eliminate them completely. The safest way to kill all traces of campylobacter is by cooking
chicken thoroughly.
Keep your fridge temperature below 5C and use a fridge thermometer to check it. This
prevents harmful germs from growing and multiplying.
Avoid overfilling your fridge – if it's too full, air cannot circulate properly, which can affect
the overall temperature.
If you have cooked food that you're not going to eat straight away, cool it as quickly as
possible (within 90 minutes) and store it in the fridge or freezer.
Use any leftovers from the fridge within 2 days and do not reheat food more than once.
Do not eat food that's past its use-by date, even if it looks and smells OK. Use-by dates are
based on scientific tests that show how quickly harmful bugs can develop in the packaged
food.
Food contamination
It is generally defined as foods that are spoiled or tainted because they either contain
microorganisms, such as bacteria or parasites, or toxic substances that make them unfit for
consumption. A food contaminant can be biological, chemical or physical in nature, with the
former being more common.