Quick answers
What are the five food-safety habits at home?
Keep clean, keep raw and cooked food apart, cook food properly, keep it at a safe temperature, and use safe water and good ingredients. These are WHO's Five Keys to Safer Food, and FSSAI gives the same advice for Indian kitchens.
Can I taste food to check whether it has gone bad?
No. Spoiled food can smell and taste normal. If you are not sure, throw it away.
Who should see a doctor sooner after food poisoning?
Small children, elderly people, pregnant women, people with weak immunity, and anyone with severe symptoms, dehydration, blood in the stool or vomiting that will not stop.
Most food poisoning at home does not come from anything dramatic. It comes from small slips: the board you used for raw chicken going straight back into service for the kachumber, a pot of dal left on the stove overnight in May, or tank water nobody has checked in months. The World Health Organization’s Five Keys to Safer Food turn this into a simple checklist, and FSSAI’s home guide gives the same advice for Indian kitchens.
The five habits
Keep clean. Keep raw and cooked food apart. Cook food properly. Keep food at a safe temperature. Use safe water and good raw materials. Everything below is just these five in practice.
Clean hands, surfaces and utensils
Wash your hands with soap before you start cooking and again after handling raw meat, fish, eggs or unwashed vegetables. Wipe down the platform, chopping board, knife and containers between jobs. A platform can look spotless and still pass germs from one food to the next, especially when raw ingredients and ready-to-eat food are prepared in the same spot.
Keep raw and cooked food apart
Keep one board and knife for raw meat and fish, and another for salad, fruit and anything that will not be cooked again. If you have only one, wash it well with soap and hot water before switching. In the fridge, put raw meat in a covered box on the lowest shelf so it cannot drip onto cooked food, curd, chutney or cut fruit.
Cook properly, then store it quickly
Cook food right through and eat it while it is hot where you can. Read the label and follow the storage instructions on packed food. Put leftovers in the fridge without leaving them out for hours, particularly in hot weather. If you are not sure whether something is still safe, throw it away. Do not taste it to check, because spoiled food often smells and tastes normal.
Use safe water, and know when to see a doctor
Use safe drinking water for cooking, washing fruit and making ice, and buy ingredients from a source you trust. Small children, elderly people, pregnant women, people with weak immunity and anyone already unwell can get much sicker from contaminated food. See a doctor without delay for severe symptoms, signs of dehydration, blood in the stool, vomiting that will not stop, high fever, or someone who cannot keep fluids down.
What needs attention
- Germs travel from raw food to cooked food through hands, boards, knives, plates and fridge drips.
- Safe storage depends on the food; the label on packed food is the best guide.
- Smell and taste cannot tell you whether doubtful food is safe.
Controls that reduce risk
- Wash your hands and wipe the platform before you start cooking.
- Use a separate board and knife for raw meat and fish, or wash them well before switching.
- Cook food right through and follow the storage instructions on the pack.
- Use safe water, and throw food away when you are unsure about it.
Common unsafe practices
- Cutting salad on the same unwashed board used for raw chicken.
- Leaving cooked dal, rice or sabzi out for hours, especially in summer.
- Tasting doubtful food to see whether it has gone bad.
- Ignoring the label, the water source or who will be eating the food.
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