Food Cleaning
It is important to know the proper food cleaning techniques in order to fight harmful bacteria that grows on you kitchen surfaces and even on your food. Bacteria are microscopic germs that naturally grow everywhere and can cause illness once it makes its’ way inside the human body.
To fight bacteria you should start by washing your hands. The proper way to wash your hands is by using warm water and soap. You should scrub both the palms and top of your hands all the way up to your wrists. Be sure to scrub under your nails and around your cuticles. This process should take at least 30 seconds.
Bacteria can also get on fresh fruits and vegetables by way of being handled in the supermarket. To wash your fresh fruits and vegetables you should put them in the sink and run warm water over them. Fruits and vegetables with tough skins should be peeled to ensure that they are clean.
Make sure that your countertops and cutting boards are clean. Cutting boards should be thoroughly washed in warm, sudsy water for at least 30 seconds. Your cutting utensils, including meat carvers and knives, should be washed in antibacterial soap unless you have a dish washer. An antibacterial cleanser should be used to clean counter tops and surfaces such as door handles and stove knobs.
Research suggests that fruits and vegetables are frequently contaminated via cross contamination. Cross contamination happens when bacteria from one surface comes in contact with your food. This happens when meat is cut on a cutting board and then vegetables are laid on the same board before it has been properly cleansed. Another example of cross contamination is when the germs from your hands get onto the water faucet. If you do not spray the faucet with cleanser; then those germs will still be there to infect your hands the next time you touch it. You can control cross contamination by frequently spraying water faucets and handles with a disinfectant spray; never store or place raw meats next to fresh fruits or vegetables; and never use the same cutting board and/or knife on raw meats and then fresh fruits and/or vegetables without first washing them.
