4Rs of Food Safety and Nutrition

Families across the country are making plans for holiday feasts that include everyone’s favorite dishes. Friends and families are invited, and excitement is in the air. Food safety is probably not the first thing you think about when planning a holiday dinner. Make your gathering memorable and safe. It is important to take steps to protect your guests from food-borne illnesses.

Cognizant of the recurring problem of foodborne disease spread through improper handling of food, cross contamination, physical, chemical, and environmental factors, the multifactorial causation of foodborne illness, intoxication, and outbreak requires both inter- and intrapersonal cooperation to lessen the incidences of these types of problem. With more than 200 diseases spread through food, and 1 in every 10 persons dying annually due to contaminated food, this health concern needs dire attention from the government, the public and private sectors, and most importantly the general public. Because proper nutrition and a healthy diet is paramount to the maintenance of life, productivity, and protects against all forms of malnutrition, we cannot simply compromise our health by not being careful in the preparation and consumption of the food we eat daily.

There are 4Rs in maintaining good nutrition and wellness, with food safety as one of its cornerstones. These are:

RETHINK. Before purchasing and consuming any food product, may it be fresh, processed, homecooked, preserved, among others, you must rethink and ask yourself – is this product safe for me to eat? Does this product contain the necessary macro and micronutrients that my body needs to maintain bodily processes?

REALIZE. You must realize the difference between what is safe to eat and what is not. You must carefully choose brands and food sellers that you trust and know if it is in any way improves your health and nutritional status, or the other way around. By realizing and having the ability to discern the principles of food safety, you can avoid contracting foodborne illness.

RESTRAIN. Restrain is not merely means to stop yourself from doing something, but it can also mean prevention. Prevention starts with you. You must educate or be educated, of the proper ways of handling food and the basic concept of food safety. Even if you simply purchase your food from the supermarket or a restaurant and not cook your own meals, it is better to be safe than sorry. By restraining yourself from ignorance, and to be able to teach yourself about why nutrition is important, then you can appreciate food safety.

REPEAT. Every day, every time you eat, or every time you prepare food, you should go back to rethinking, realizing, and restraining, then repeating the cycle again.

The upcoming weeks and months will be filled with holiday cheer and merriment with family and friends. It is the most wonderful time of the year, so always remember to follow kumaintment # 6 “Tiyaking ligtas at malinis ang ating pagkain at tubig”. (Christian Denzel Sagun, Silliman University BSND Intern)