The Importance Of Storing Food

Everyday humans eat because they are either hungry, they are at a social gathering or when they are just board. On average an American will consume 1,996 pounds a year. They will consume 2,700 calories a day. With all the food we consume we don't really think about how safe our food is when we go through a drive thru or dine in. Everyday people prepare and cook our food but one mistake in the kitchen can have severe consequences. Not being careful with cross contamination, not fully cooking food, and not storing food correctly are just three things that can severally harm people. When choosing a place to eat one might think of what might appeal to their appetite but, one might not think how the food is stored. Storing food is the first step

Cross contamination is define as the “process by which bacteria or other microorganisms are unintentionally transferred from one substance or object to another, with harmful effect.” (dicinary.com) Food must be stored in a ways that prevent cross contamination, storing items away from walls and at least 6 inch off the ground will help prevent contamination. The reason for this is, it’s easier and safer to clean walls and floors. Not to mention for the rare case an animal come into the kitchen they can not reach the items and it will be easier to fix any damage they cause. Storing food in intended containers help keep food separated and help prevent cross contamination. One would not like to have their raw meat stored in the same box as the chopped mushrooms. Wherever, one may store, storing their food one should make sure the area is cleaned often and sanitized to decrease the amount of bacteria on or around the food. You should also store food based on there internal cooking temperatures. For example, your Ready to eat foods should be on the top followed by Seafood, Whole cuts of beef, ground beef and fish than, whole and ground poultry. The reason for this is one doesn't want chicken or beef juice to drip down to the ready to eat foods. For Example, if the chicken is above the fish and the chicken drips down, one is going to cook to the fishes temperature

The big pathogens that cause the most problems are Shigella spp., Salmonella Typhi, Hepatits A and the Norovirus. Each of these are cause by some type of contamination that being the cows ate something that harms them to poison fish, but all of these have similar symptoms. Diarrhea Vomiting, Fever, Abdominal Cramps, and Jaundice (Yellowing of the skin, the worst of all the symptoms) (PAGE 2.5) To help prevent Biological contamination make are one is buying from a credible source, and to cook foods correctly to there full internal