Buying perishable foods

Care of food in the home involves precautions in a number of areas. Approximately 88% of all case of food poisoning can be traced to handling of food at improper temperatures.

When shopping for foods, shop at clean stores. When packing or purchasing food, the quantity must be small because of limited space available to preserve perishable food.

Rather than buying too much fresh produce buy only reasonably expect to use next trip to the grocery store.

Shop for the perishable foods (e.g., milk, meat, and fish) last, and do not delay going home once the shopping has been completed. A bacterium which spoils food can grow to very large numbers in just hours while in a warm car.

Check the ‘best before’ date. The time that have the longest best before date are typically at the back of the shelf.

Once home, the perishable foods should be unpacked immediately and transferred quickly to refrigerator or freezer.

Perishable food need attention and appropriate handling to avoid spoilage. They are differ from non-perishable foods:
*They are seasonal
*They are more frequently purchase
*The prices are less stable

Perishable should be kept in a refrigerator held at as low a temperature (above freezing) as possible. The most important deterrent to food spoilage is low temperature.

The refrigerator should be kept at temperatures in the range 32 – 38 °F, preferably on the lower side of the range. Frozen foods should be held at 0 °F or below. Perishable food from must be carried quickly from one area a to another and it should be kept cool.

Neither the refrigerator nor the freezer can lower the temperature of bulk foods quickly enough, and spoilage occurs during the period of cooling, therefore, when the bulk of foods can be reduced it should be done.
Buying perishable foods