Guest Blogger – Wellness: Avoiding Potential Kitchen Health Hazards

Guest Blogger #672, Entry #1600, September 15, 2012

We all want to believe that we are safe in our own homes. While some of us live in small communities where leaving doors unlocked is considered perfectly acceptable, others will put in alarm systems, locked gates, flood lights, and even security cameras in order to feel at ease. But not all threats come from outside. What about the dangers that are lurking within your four walls? You may not realize it, but there could be all kinds of health hazards present in your very kitchen, hiding amongst the foods you rely on to sustain you. And they can lead to serious illness and even death if you’re not careful. So here are just a few things you should be aware of and how you can avoid coming to harm.

Ensure your refrigerator is reaching the right temperature

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Low fridge or freezer temperature.

It is generally recommended that a refrigerator be set at 37 degrees Fahrenheit while a freezer remains at 3 degrees. But it can be difficult to figure out how to get your appliance to just the right temps, especially if the controls aren’t digital. If you go too cold you could wind up with crystalized liquids in the fridge and freezer burn on your meat, but if your icebox isn’t cold enough your food could spoil. So if you’re having trouble setting the temperature, simply install thermometers meant for the fridge and freezer; they’ll quickly let you know if the temperature of your fridge or freezer could be posing a health risk.

Expired food items.

Many people don’t pay much attention to expiration dates. If their food doesn’t have mold or smell funny they assume it’s okay to eat. The problem here is that manufacturers provide expiration dates for a reason, and it’s not to make you throw away your food and buy more. They want to make sure that they’re not liable if you eat food that has gone bad, so they do extensive research to determine how long their wares will last under average conditions (in the fridge, for example). If you fail to heed these cautionary dates for usage you do so at your own peril.

Bacteria and parasites.

Nobody wants to think about the fact that their food products come from the dirty ground or from farm animals, but bacteria like E. coli and salmonella and parasites like giardia and hook worms may thrive in these environments, so you need to consider that they could be present. In most cases you can avoid run-ins with food-borne illness through proper washing of produce and proper cooking of meats. But you should also pay attention to warnings about outbreaks so that you can avoid any food items that may be contaminated.

Ensure your food doesn’t expire

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Carbon Monoxide

Carbon monoxide has been dubbed the “silent killer” because it is a colorless, odorless, and virtually undetectable gas that will cause you to become quite dead in high doses. Considering that it can come from gas-fueled appliances (like your cooktop), it’s not a bad idea to keep a CO sensor plugged in nearby to warn you if levels start to rise to a dangerous level.

Chemicals on food.

Most people don’t think twice about the fact that their fruits and veggies are grown with toxic chemical fertilizers and pesticides, especially since studies have shown that only minute traces can be found by the time these foods reach your table. Of course, the companies that create these chemicals are the ones reporting that ingesting them will cause you no harm, so it couldn’t hurt to treat such findings with a healthy dose of skepticism and think about switching to organic. Such chemicals might not lead to a breast or prostate cancer screening down the road, but then again they might. There is a lot of speculation that these toxins are to blame for the uptick in cancers and other serious diseases over the last several decades.

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