Smart Food Safety Tips for Everyday Shoppers

Did you know that you can start protecting your family from food poisoning the moment that you walk into the supermarket?
In fact, if you make smart decisions about where you shop, what you shop for, and how you shop, you can start practising food safety right away.

This is a good way to ensure that the foods you bring into your home will be safe for you and your family.

Choosing the Place to Shop

This is especially important if you will be buying produce or other types of unpackaged and perishable foods. You need to be careful where you choose to shop. If you buy foods from the deli or the fresh meats section of the food shop, you will want to ensure that you choose a supermarket that is clean and well cared for. If you see that the shop looks dirty, imagine just how bad it may be behind the scenes. It is always best to choose supermarkets carefully.

Choosing Products

When you begin shopping, you will want to choose foods carefully. Here are a few tips to remember:

• Do not buy canned foods with dents in them. Dents can indicate the introduction of bacteria
• Do not buy packaged foods that are damaged, torn, or ripped
• Check the “Use By” or “Best By” dates on the foods
• Do not buy foods in coolers that seem to be malfunctioning or warm

Shopping Order

Finally, you will need to shop in the right order. While the frozen and cold foods may be close to the front, they should be the last place you shop before checking out. Make sure to add perishable foods to your cart last so that they do not have time to get warm while you do the rest of your shopping.

Food safety all begins with shopping. If you shop for foods carefully, you can ensure that none of them is dangerous.