Health

Contaminated food has led to 351,000 deaths in 2010, says WHO report

08/04/2015

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See video with simple tips to avoid contamination indoors.
World Health Day, on Tuesday, is themed food security.
wellness food (Photo: Mariana Garcia / G1)

Wash hands, separate raw and cooked food and keep them in appropriate temperatures are measures that can save lives. In 2010 alone, there were 582 million cases of diseases caused by contaminated food consumption. In all, 351 000 deaths, according to preliminary data from a survey conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), released last week.

There are more than 200 diseases that may be caused by consumption of contaminated food, from diarrhea to cancer. They can be provoked by micro-organisms in foods such as bacteria, viruses and parasites, or harmful chemicals.

This year, WHO chose food security as the theme of World Health Day, celebrated on Tuesday (7). It said while the responsibility for food safety falls mainly on producers of food and on governments, who have the role of regulating the area, there are simple measures that can be taken at home to prevent contamination.

Here are five steps to ensure safer food at home:

Washing hands is essential (Photo: WHO / Handout)
Maintaining cleanliness
Wash hands before cooking is essential. In addition, to ensure the cleanliness of vegetables such as vegetables, fruits and vegetables, you need to wash them to remove the dirt and let them soak for 30 minutes in a solution of sodium hypochlorite.

"Most people think that vinegar does disinfection and this is a mistake. Vinegar only help the larger particles to sediment in the water, but does not kill the most harmful to health micro-organisms, "says Nidia Pucci, Nutritionist Hospital July 9.

Do not mix cross and cooked (Photo: WHO / Handout)
Do not mix raw and cooked foods
Raw meat or raw vegetables have not washed should not be mixed with cooked food ready for consumption. According to Nidia, all food has bacteria but while cooked have a number of non pathogenic bacteria, raw can have bacteria that cause disease.

The nutritionist explains that use the same utensils for preparing raw meats and other foods may cause cross contamination. "Bacteria that are raw poultry, for example, can move to a vegetable. So should prepare one at a time and wash the board and the knife before preparing the next food. "

Another tip is to avoid the wooden board, as it makes it more difficult cleaning and elimination of possible bacteria. The Board of acrylic is a safer option.

You need to cook the food well (Photo: WHO / Handout)
Cook well to kill micro-organisms
Cooking at temperatures above 100 ° C can kill pathogenic bacteria. To prevent contamination, the ideal is to avoid eating raw meat or undercooked eggs or with runny yolk. Nidia remember that the recommendation applies particularly to pregnant women and elderly, more vulnerable to this type of infection.

According to the WHO, the microorganisms present in foods that caused more deaths in 2010 were Salmonella typhi bacteria, leading to 52,000 deaths and E. coli, responsible for 37,000 deaths in addition to the norovirus, which causes 35,000 deaths .

Maintain safe temperatures

Temperature should be below 5 ° C or above 60 ° C (Photo: WHO / Handout)
To prevent the growth of micro-organisms, it is important to note storage temperature of the food. The ideal is to keep them in a temperature lower than 5 ° C or greater than 60 ° C. The nutritionist notes that it is important to pay attention to the regulation of the refrigerator at home: in the summer, it must be adjusted to work with a higher power.

Choose water and raw food safe (Photo: Playback / WHO)
Use water and raw food safe
When buying products, you need to take special care, according to Nidia. In the case of meats, cold cuts and dairy products, consumers should observe the temperature of the refrigerator market. In the case of frozen food, the presence of loose ice cubes inside the packaging may indicate that the food to be thawed and frozen again, which is not secure.

"Steak with brownish or grayish and cold whitish may indicate that although within the validity period, the cooling may not have been appropriate," says the expert.



Source: G1

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