10 Smart Shopping Tips To Protect Your Family From Getting Sick


Prevention of food poisoning starts with your trip to thesupermarket. Here's how to start off safely.

1. Pick up your packaged and canned foods first. Buy cansand jars that look perfect. Don't buy canned goods that aredented, cracked or bulging. These are the warning signs thatdangerous bacteria may be growing in the can.

2. Look for any expiration dates on the labels and never buyoutdated food. Likewise, check the "use by" or "sell by"date on dairy products such as cottage cheese, cream cheese,yogurt, and sour cream and pick the ones that will stayfresh longest in your refrigerator.

3. Check eggs, too. Choose eggs that are refrigerated in thestore. Before putting them in your cart, open the carton andmake sure that the eggs are clean and none are cracked orbroken.

4. Raw meat, poultry, and seafood sometimes drip. The juicesthat drip may have germs. Keep these juices away from otherfoods. Put raw meat, poultry, and seafood into plastic bagsbefore they go into the cart. Separate raw meat, poultry,and seafood from other foods in your grocery shopping cartand in your refrigerator.

5. Don't buy frozen seafood if the packages are open, tornor crushed on the edges. Avoid packages that are above thefrost line in the store's freezer. If the package cover istransparent, look for signs of frost or ice crystals. Thiscould mean that the fish has either been stored for a longtime or thawed and re-frozen.

6. Check for cleanliness at the meat or fish counter and thesalad bar. For instance, cooked shrimp lying on the same bedof ice as raw fish could become contaminated.

7. When shopping for shellfish, buy from markets that gettheir supplies from state-approved sources; stay clear ofvendors who sell shellfish from roadside stands or the backof a truck. And if you're planning to harvest your ownshellfish, heed posted warnings about the water's safety.

8. Pick up milk, frozen foods, and perishables (meat,poultry, fish) last. Always put these products in separateplastic bags so that drippings don't contaminate other foodsin your shopping cart.

9. Drive immediately home from the grocery store. This willgive cold or frozen food less time to warm up before you gethome. If the destination is farther away than 30 minutes,bring a cooler with ice or commercial freezing gels fromhome and place perishables in it.

10. Save hot chicken and other hot foods for last, too. Thiswill give them less time to cool off before you get home.

Terry Nicholls
My Home-Based Business Advisor
www.my-home-based-business-advisor.com

Copyright © by Terry Nicholls. All Rights Reserved.

About The Author

Terry Nicholls is the author of the eBook "Food Safety: Protecting Your Family From Food Poisoning". In addition, he writes from his own experiences in trying to start his own home-based business. To benefit from his success, visit My Home-Based Business Advisor - Helping YOUR Home Business Start and Succeed for free help for YOUR home business, including ideas, startup, and expansion advice.

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Cooking Information:

Related Articles

10 Convenient Ways To Eliminate Food Poisoning With Your Microwave
Microwave ovens can play an important role at mealtime, butspecial care must be taken when cooking or reheating meat,poultry, fish, and eggs to make sure they are preparedsafely. Microwave ovens can cook unevenly and leave "coldspots," where harmful bacteria can survive.
Barbeque Grilling has Reached a Whole New Dimension
Grilling on the barbecue has never been more exciting. Not only do barbecues come in a myriad of designs and options, but also with the advent of popular cooking shows, cooking books and magazines', grilling has reached a whole new dimension.
Cut The Take Out
A long hard day at work. You get home and need dinner.
Wok this Way! (Part 1 of 5)
IntroductionWoks have been synonymous with Chinese cooking since the emergence of Chinese cuisine. They have been used for some 3000 years in China for a variety of cooking methods, including stir frying, boiling, and steaming.
Weber Grills Reviewed: Quality that Lasts
Barbecuing has long been a favorite pastime for many and the grills people are buying have only become bigger and better as the years go by. But, with so many grills to choose from, how do consumers know which company produces the best? Well, the Weber Grill company has proven itself to be one of the greatest choices when purchasing gas, smoke and charcoal grills.
Family Meal Planning Made Easy
As moms, we have hectic lives. Whether we work out of the home, in the home or look after the kids full time, we definitely have our jobs cut out for us.
Compact Refrigerators Are Great When Small Is Needed
The small refrigerator can be used in many places that a regular size fridge would not be practical. Many places including offices, apartments, student dorms, hotels, motels, and military housing can benefit from using compact refrigerators.
Is Cooked Food Really All That Good For Us?
In nature all animals eat living foods as yielded up by Nature. Only humans cook their foods and only humans suffer widespread sicknesses and ailments.
What is Gluten and Why does it Matter?
Gluten is a substance made up of the proteins found in wheat flour that gives bread its structure, strength, and texture. Without these marvelous little proteins, bread would not be bread.
Flax Seed Will Add A Little Extra Flavor To Your Recipes
Flax seed will add a pleasant nutty taste to any recipe. The attractive, round reddish-brown seeds of flax add flavor, extra texture and good nutrition to your breads, cakes, muffins, and other baked goods.
Kitchenaid Stand Mixers - A Kitchen Work Horse
Kitchenaid stand mixers are very popular in today's kitchens and it is easy to see why. These stand mixers have stood the test of time and have shown themselves to be kitchen work horses.
The World of Cornbread
We're partial to cornbread. We like its rustic texture and chewy goodness.
Ten Proven Tips to Buy the Best Meat Available
Ten Proven Tips to buy the Best Meat AvailableAs you look through the meat section at your local grocery store you are probably like so many others asking yourself if the steaks you have chosen is really good meat. Here are some tips on how to make sure you buy good meat.
Cooking Lobster at Home
Lobster has always be one of those extravagant meals which few people ever try because of the high cost. With restaurants paying thirty dollars a pound, by the time they put their markup on it, you're easily paying sixty dollars for a ten ounce tail.
What You Need in a Gourmet Kitchen
The best way to decide what you need in your kitchen is to first decide what it is you are going to be cooking in there. The best suggestion I ever heard on this matter is to find five dishes you really love.
Little-known Tips for Easy Holiday Baking
Are you wondering if you have the time to bake homemade Christmas cookies this year? Every year at about this time we all start to get a little panicked that the holidays are coming up fast and we're not really ready yet. Here are a few little-known tips and tricks, for almost every type of cookie, to help you get the most out of the time you spend baking.
Cool Summertime Cooking
Summertime--and the living is easy! But the kitchen is hot!! It's time for some cool cooking recipes and tips!1. Cook outdoors.
Clarifying Butter
Clarified butter is a delightfully rich concentrated butter that can be used in cooking and making mouth watering sauces. Traditional methods for making this rich butter concentrate can be a little intimidating at first, but not anymore.
Hot Apple Pie - The American Apple Pie Legacy
While each country might have its own preferred style, "American Style" apple pie includes your basic pie with apples in it, spiced up with cinnamon and/or nutmeg. Some folks top it off with a scoop of ice cream (such as vanilla) and this is known as "Apple Pie a la mode.
Eating Healthy with a Meat Grinder
While it may be surprising, owning your own meat grinder can help you in your pursuit to live a healthier life. According to the USDA, the average American in 2000 consumed 300 more calories than the average American in 1985, a 12% increase, including a 24% increase of fat calories.