We all want to keep our families safe and healthy, especially in this time when the coronavirus presents such a real need to do so.  No one wants to end up at the doctor’s office or the hospital with a foodborne illness* (*There is no credible evidence that the coronavirus is spread by food or food packaging).  To help ensure the health of family and friends, we’ll address some top food safety mistakes and remind ourselves of some easy steps we all can take to keep our families and friends food-safe.

Tip #1: avoid eating risky foods.  No matter how delicious it might be to lick cake batter made with raw eggs from the bowl or to bite into a rare hamburger, these foods (and habits) are more likely to give you food poisoning.  Now, more than ever, avoid eating risky foods.

Avoid eating these risky foods:

• Raw or under-cooked animal products such as beef, pork, chicken, eggs, or seafood.
• Unpasteurized milk or products made from raw milk.
• Unpasteurized juice.
• Raw flour or uncooked dough or batter.
• Raw sprouted seeds.

Each of these foods presents a higher risk of carrying harmful bacteria, so do yourself a favor and avoid them at this time.  And remember, while anyone can get food poisoning, there are some people more likely than others to get sick or to have serious side effects.  This group includes: adults aged 65 and older, children younger than 5 years, pregnant women, and people with underlying health problems or weakened immune systems.  Now is a good time to work together to keep our family and friends food-safe.  Stay well.

Authored by: Barb Ingham