Public Health advises cooking food well and keeping it refrigerated until consumption.

Thawing at room temperature should be avoided and should be done in the fridge to prevent the proliferation of bacteria.

The Directorate General for Public Health, through the Food Safety Service, reminds us in these summer months that preparing food to be eaten in the open air can entail the risk of contracting food poisoning if simple rules of hygiene are not followed.

TDB keeps you informed. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Health recommends extreme precautions to avoid food poisoning

Firstly, it is essential to wash your hands before and after handling food and to disinfect fruit and vegetables that are not going to be cooked with a few drops of bleach suitable for this purpose. If salads are prepared, ingredients should be mixed before eating to avoid cross-contamination. Raw food should also be kept separate from cooked food.

Meat should be well cooked and, as far as possible, foods made with raw eggs should be avoided. For this reason, omelettes should be well-cooked and kept in coolers before consumption. During their preparation, it is advisable not to break the eggs in the same dish where they are going to be beaten, not to use the shell to separate the yolk from the white or to put the omelette in the same dish that has been used to turn it in the frying pan.

During transport, it is advisable not to leave food inside the car for a long time to avoid prolonged exposure to the sun. Never defrost food at room temperature; it is more prudent to defrost it in the refrigerator to avoid the proliferation of bacteria.

Finally, to avoid the most common toxins – salmonellosis, listeriosis, E.Coli or Campylobacteriosis – which generally cause gastroenteritis, fever and vomiting, the measures mentioned above should be followed: cook meat and eggs well and keep them refrigerated until consumption; wash fruit and vegetables well and maintain proper hand hygiene at all times.