Why Food Safety is an Important Element of Healthy Eating

  • Home
  • /
  • Blog
  • /
  • Why Food Safety is an Important Element of Healthy Eating
Why Food Safety is an Important Element of Healthy Eating

Food safety is an important element of eating healthy. Eating healthy generally involves choosing nutritious foods for the body. While this is important, you should ensure the food is ISO safe. Food safety essentially means ensuring everything you eat is safe for consumption. Doing this is important for eating healthy in the following ways:

1. Prevent Food-borne Illnesses

Various protective measures are used to ensure food products are safe to prevent food poisoning. Safety procedures during production to preparation stages aim at identifying and mitigating illnesses that cause contaminants. One of the most important safety practices is proper hygiene. Simple practices like washing hands with soap and water prevent contamination. Utensils should also be thoroughly cleaned.

The second safety procedure is proper food storage. Storing consumables in the right condition prevents the growth of harmful bacteria. Correct labeling also reduces contamination risks and ensures all perishable food items are prioritized.

Cooking to the right temperature also effectively kills bacteria. You should cook food items to the recommended temperatures to kill harmful bacteria. However, note that foods have varying cooking temperatures.

Implementing and adhering to these safety regulations helps producers and manufacturers minimize the risk of contamination. For instance, observing quality control measures and conducting random tests like food stone detection, especially for cereals, to ensure they supply retailers and their customers with products that are safe for consumption.

2. Maintain Nutritional Value

Food safety is closely associated with the nutritional quality of food items. Besides protecting consumers from illnesses, ensuring food safety also helps preserve the nutritional integrity of consumables.

To begin, food safety measures like refrigeration help prevent spoilage. Spoiled foods are not only a healthy risk, but also don’t have nutritional value. Maintaining optimal storage conditions through temperature control and other practices preserves the foods’ nutritional quality.

Adhering to food safety practices also minimizes nutrient degradation. Exposing food items to air, light, and harsh conditions accelerates nutrient degradation. Some practices, like storing vegetables in a cool and dark place, help retain their vitamins and phytonutrient value. 

3. Build Consumer Confidence

Food safety helps build and maintain consumer trust. Consumers can comfortably eat healthy only if they are sure that the food they buy from retailers is free from contaminants. Government agencies and other regulatory bodies should ensure producers and distributors embrace food safety regulations. Ensuring compliance with these standards reassures consumers that food establishments are held accountable for their products.

Some safety standards like clear labeling are important for healthy eating. Most people who have embraced healthy diets seek professional advice on what to eat. This means they focus on the ingredient profile and nutritional values of everything they eat. Incorrectly labeled items make it impossible for them to adhere to their duties.

Endnote

Eating healthy is important for maintaining good health. These foods fuel the body with key nutrients required for proper functioning. However, you should pay equal attention to food safety. Contaminated food can easily negate all the benefits of eating good food.

About the Author

Jared Levenson is a former binge eating wrestler turned Zen Buddhist Monk, Internal Family Systems counselor and nutrition wellness coach. He's helped hundreds of people through universal meal principles and internal family systems to make peace with food, stop binge eating, and find true health and wholeness.

@jared_levenson

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked

{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}