Shopping..

Many people each year get sick from food poisoning.  Excluding those who eat and get sick from restaurant food, a number of people are contracting some type of illness from the food they bring home from the grocery store. But did you know that not everyone really traces back their illness to how they shop for their food? They probably think that the food itself was bad when in actuality; it could be the process of shopping itself.  Keep these shopping tips in mind when shopping for food at the supermarket:

1.  Leave the perishables for last.  Pick up your canned and prepackaged foods first.  Inspect the packaging for any tears, rips, dents or cracks.  You should only buy canned food and jars that are unblemished.  Dented cans, bulging tops on jars and cracks in packaging can signal potential breeding grounds for bacteria. 

2.  Take those expiration dates to heart.  Don’t buy anything that is beyond the expiration date like dairy products, medications and meat.  Choose the packaging that offers the expiration date that will stay fresh the longest when you store it at home.

3.  Utilize the paper towels and available plastic bags that are near the meat poultry case.  They often have juices that drip from the packaging.  Most raw meats can make you sick; therefore, keep them from dripping on your other groceries and put them in a plastic bag and place them in a separate area in your shopping cart. 

4.  Eggs can be hazardous to your health if you do not inspect them.  Open up the egg carton and make sure that the eggs are not cracked.  Likewise, make sure that they have been stored in a cool, refrigerated area.  And never buy any eggs that have not been cleaned.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 11th, 2007 at 4:02 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.