HealthyHome™ Corner

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN RAW MEAT AND GERMS

Who is not allergic to germs? One mention of the word and everyone squirms and immediately heads to the nearest rest room to wash thoroughly with soap and water.

This is good practice more so at this day and age when germs get bolder covering and attaching itself to everything and everyone in your home.

So while you continue to practice the habit of hand-washing, is there more you can do to protect your whole family from germs especially that which comes from raw meat?

Yes, there's more and you can find these out right here!

Tip 1: Raw meat from chicken, beef and pork should never be considered "safe" to touch. There's always the threat of serious food poisoning lurking here. Here are ways to properly handle raw meat:

Wash your hands thoroughly with a disinfecting or anti-bacterial soap and warm water after handling raw meat. Wipe your hands with a dry cloth. Never use moist towellettes when wiping hands.
Make sure you wash chopping boards, knives and other utensils after cutting, slicing or dicing raw meat and before using the same kitchen utensils with other food.
Never place raw meat beside cooked food on the grill or oven.
Do not add sauce or marinade on cooked food if these have been used on raw meat.
It is advised to place raw meat at the bottom of the freezer to avoid drippings on other food in the refrigerator.
As much as possible, do avoid eating raw chicken, pork or beef.
Use separate utensils for raw and cooked meat.

TIP 2: There is no need to wash raw meat. You just have to cook it very thoroughly at high temperature to kill germs. In fact, washing raw meat can be more harmful because germs from the residue will leave itself on the sink or kitchen area.

TIP 3: To check if meat has been thoroughly cooked, slice it down the middle. The meat should not be pink or red. Steam should also be coming out from the sliced portion.

TIP 4: Burgers and sausages must never be eaten "rare." These should be thoroughly cooked.

TIP 5: Re-heat left-over food only once.