After a discussion in class today, I have become more interested in the sanitation of our food. I am wondering if prepackaged and restaurant food is safer then the food that you prepare in your own home?
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For the level of work put into each meal, a meal at a restaurant requires less work of me than if I were to cook it myself. For cleanliness, all I need to do is wash my hands and hope that the workers have done the rest. I am realizing at home how much cleaning is involved to keep a kitchen healthy. You need to wipe down the counters daily with antibacterial wipes, wash your hands a lot. Make sure the dishes are clean by washing by hand or by using a dishwasher. The parts I am struggling with is sampling the food as I cook (that could spread germs) and leaving food out unrefrigerated and a few hours later thinking it is still ok to eat.
In
Food Policy in the United States by Parke Wilde, he says that "packaging can block harmful contamination". I would have to agree, that prepackaged food may be cleaner then what is made in a typical kitchen. He also discusses that most of the food we consume has been manufactured.
So right now I am torn if the food I cook is safer in terms of pathogens then what can be purchased at a restaurant or grocery store. What do you think?
I think it really depends on how you view bacteria and other pathogens. We don't use antibacterial anything in our house. I won't let my kids lick a raw piece of chicken, but I also don't panic if the pizza we made last night is eaten in the morning without refrigeration. If anyone in my family had a compromised or weakened immune system, I might be more rigorous, but as it is, we do just dandy living with our germies.
ReplyDeleteI once saw a video (maybe it was a show, or a commercial, promotional event, or something, I forget) where health inspectors came into average people's kitchens and rated them as though they were inspecting a restaurant. The kitchens weren't horrible, but they were all somewhere in the 60-80% range.
ReplyDeleteI think you pose a good question. Is it really more sanitary to do it yourself, or to eat out? It probably depends on how willing you are to keep the kitchen really very tidy. It'd be hard to maintain restaurant-quality cleanliness all the time, that's for sure!
I agree with Tracy. I don't use antibacterial anything and I think my immune system is stronger for it. We need some of our good bacteria to fight off the bad bacteria. I think that the food you cook is probably safer that pre-packaged stuff because you know what is in it. Perhaps the packaging is blocking contamination, but do the amount of preservatives and extra crap in the food outweigh the risk of contamination?
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