Food Safety for Children and Elderly Children

Food Safety for Children and Elderly

Children and elderly are the two groups that are extremely vulnerable in terms of their immune system. They are prone to infections that may be caused by the food that they eat or even water if the proper sanitation factors are not taken care of.

In an early childhood center, there is need for observing the various food safety and sanitation guidelines that are commonly known but are largely ignored. The first stage in ensuring that the children in such a center are kept safe from infection must begin with the storage facility. The danger with careless storage is that we can never realize the effects of improper storage until it is eaten and the children are all sick. According to Safe Kids (2012), it is recommended that is food is cooked and remains, it is stored in the fridge. However even the storage should not be long and should be utilized within 48 hours and indeed preferably within 24 hours. The storage should be in the appropriate containers and covered with aluminum foil except the acidic foods. For the grains, the storage should be in a dry place, free from moisture and rodents so as to avoid the aflatoxin infection that is potentially poisonous if it finds its way into the human system. Food should not be left out of the refrigerator for long and should be stored as soon as it cools.

Then comes the preparation stage of the meal and this is equally important for children in such a setting. Being that they are many in number, it is tricky but essential that the food preparation is done in a clean environment, the tools and utensils used are clean and the environment where the food is prepared is clean. The first thing is to ensure that some raw foods like meat, fish, poultry and the juices that might come from them are kept away from the other foods. Once you have finished cutting these foods the chopping board and the knife should be washed with clean soapy water. Cooked food should then never be placed on a plate that previously had raw foods and has not been washed, separate chopping boards should be used for foods that are ready to eat and those that are cut raw. The ready to eat food or those that are eaten raw should also be washed properly in order to remove any soil and possible bacteria. There is then the need to ensure that the cooked food is thoroughly cooked to temperatures of around 75?C (Department of Health, 2012).

Maximum scare should also be taken while handling food that children are going to consume as they are very sensitive to bacterial infections, yet everyone has some bacteria in their hands. One should therefore wash their hands with soap before handling any food as well as between handling different types of food. The utensils that one intends to use to handle food should also be clean and sanitized. The use of disposable gloves is encouraged and the gloves should be changed at least once an hour or when switching from raw food to other types of foods.