Is it the 24 hour bug or is it food poisoning? Mild cases of food poisoning are probably pretty common. The Department of Agriculture has recommendations for reducing the chances of foodborne illnesses:
- Wash your hands before preparing a meal, setting the table and eating.
- Wash you hands after handling raw meat, touching animals, diapering a baby or using the toilet.
- Make sure foods are stored at the proper temperatures and cooked until they reach the proper temperatures (180 degrees F for whole poultry).
- Refrigerate or freeze leftovers as soon as possible. Do not leave them out for more than an hour.
- Throw out leftovers more than 4 days old.
- Wash hands, cutting boards and utensils between different foods (such as vegetables and meat).
- Never thaw food at room temperature.
- If there is a power outage, throw out food stored in a refrigerator that has been above 40 degrees F for more than four hours.
For more information, visit the Department of Agriculture’s website.
For suspected food poisoning or any poisoning questions, call the Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222.
Tags: food, poisoning, food poisoning, poison control center, MN Department of Agriculture, foodborne illness