Nutrition is about more than just eating right, folks–you’ve got to eat safe, too! If you believe and follow any of the food safety myths below, you could be putting yourself and your loved ones at risk of illness. No one wants a trip to the hospital after a nice dinner, so take a look at what risks you may be unknowingly taking.
You need to wash meat before preparing it
This is one that sounds like it makes sense. After all, we wash fruit to rid it of dirt and pesticides. However, it’s wrong. If you wash raw meat, you could end up spreading germs all over your kitchen and possibly contaminate other foods, as pointed out by Ohio State University (https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/blog/should-you-wash-meat-before-cooking-it). Meats must be cooked to their appropriate temperatures to kill any bacteria. If you’re prepping meat, do so on a separate cutting board and with a separate knife used only for that purpose.
You can smell or taste food to check that it is good
You actually can’t see, smell or taste the germs that cause food poisoning. If you suspect a food is past its recommended shelf life date, toss it. Even eating a tiny amount of bad food can make you really sick. If you don’t do this already, label your foods by creation date so you don’t lose track of what is good and what isn’t in your fridge.
You can peel veggies and fruits without washing them first
Both vegetables and fruits may have germs on their skin or peel that can make you sick. It’s also easy to transfer these microbes to the inside of the veggies or fruits when you peel or cut them. Because of this, it’s crucial you wash all your produce before you peel it.
You can eat raw dough, raw batter, raw flour and uncooked eggs
Look, we’ve all been tempted by cookie dough, but it’s just a bad idea. Uncooked flour and eggs can contain harmful bacteria, including Salmonella and E. coli. Don’t eat foods that have raw eggs, such as eggnog and hollandaise sauce. Raw batter or uncooked dough with eggs or flour in it is also not safe to eat. Keep any raw dough in your kitchen away from kids. Always wash your work surfaces, hands and utensils thoroughly after they have come into contact with raw flour, eggs and dough.
