Food safety and hygiene
Keep the home free from faeces
- Use a latrine and keep it clean and free from flies.
- Keep the surroundings clean.
- Wash clothes, bedding and surfaces that might have been contaminated with faeces in hot water with soap.
Personal hygiene
- Always wash hands with clean water and soap or ashes before, during and after preparing food or eating, and after visiting the toilet.
- Cover all wounds to prevent contamination of food during preparation and handling.
- Use safe clean water from protected sources. If the water is not from a protected source, it should be boiled for ten minutes or filtered.
Storage of drinking-water
- Keep drinking-water in a covered container that is cleaned at least once a week.
- Do not dip hands or cups into the container.
- The best container is one with a tap.
Hygiene in the kitchen
- Keep all food preparation surfaces clean. Use clean dishes and utensils to store, prepare, serve and eat food.
- Wash vegetables and fruit with clean water.
- Cover food to keep flies and dust away.
- Keep rubbish in a covered bin and empty regularly.
Cooking and storage of food
- Cover and store food in containers away from insects.
- Throw away any food that has gone bad, or is well past its sell-by date.
- Cook food thoroughly, but do not overcook vegetables.
- Serve food immediately after cooking.
- Store fresh food in a cool place or refrigerator.
- Do not store raw food, especially meat, close to cooked food.
- Avoid storing leftovers unless they can be kept in a cool place or refrigerator. Always reheat them at a high temperature.
Meat, poultry and fish
- Cook meat and fish well; meat should have no red juices.
- Wash utensils and surfaces touched by meat, poultry or fish with hot water and soap before preparing other foods.
- Eggs should be hard boiled. Do not eat soft-boiled eggs, raw eggs, cracked eggs or any foods containing raw eggs.
However careful one is, food-borne infections may happen. If you get diarrhoea, follow the advice in Summary sheet 4 but if you feel very ill with diarrhoea, vomiting and pain, see a health worker without delay.