After experiencing some allergic responses to foods and food mold, I decided it was critical that I implement a home kitchen sanitizing system that I could maintain. I knew and used some basic food safety techniques already but they weren’t enough. I have to improve food safety at home through regular cleaning as well as during cooking.
Forming a new habit has a very low chance of lasting, unless I tie it to an existing habit with the same frequency. At that time, I had no routine to go through and clean the entire kitchen regularly. I also needed to do more research on food related toxins, molds, etc.
Important Elements for Success:
1. Context: what do I need to prevent?
In my particular case, I don’t bring home foods I’m allergic to, so it’s not about accidental exposure to a food allergen (which could be a problem in a multi-person home).
I am sensitive to naturally increasing amounts of histamine, which my research suggests is a greater issue in meats and how old they are as well as how they were stored since the meat packing plant.
The latest and greatest reaction was from a toxin that visible mold produces. I simply cut the moldy part off the food. Couple of things…first it was producing invisible toxins at this stage. Second, it was an onion which is too porous of a food which means there were roots still in the uncolored portion. There’s a mental/mindset issue at play too as I can imagine getting lectured about wasting food.
So I want to prevent the food from having visible mold in the first place. That way, I should be able to avoid the toxin entirely.
2. Key requirements: what is required for me to improve food safety at home?
Weekly review of food inventory. Food could go bad in less than 1 week. In most cases, if I store it correctly when I bring it home and it didn’t overheat, then in 1 week I should be able to shuffle food around to prolong it’s life and avoid mold. If I find mold, it should be early and I can pitch the food and sanitize the area.
I searched for advice on food safety and came up with industrial kitchen laws and recommendations, but I need to improve food safety at home. There’s plenty of advice about washing produce and we’ve all heard to keep raw meats separate.
The best advice I found says to spray down all the touch points every time you cook, between, and after handling raw meats. It’s difficult to remember everything I touch while cooking and cleaning. So, my system needs to include disinfecting all touch points in the kitchen.
My Kitchen Touch Points:
1. knives (dishwasher safe but may use multiple times)
2. cutting board (if used)
3. handles of lower and upper cabinets
4. handle of dishwasher and faucet
5. sides of tip out drawer in front of sink
6. handle of microwave, oven, and fridge
7. Surfaces
3. Tie it to an existing routine
My existing weekly routines are limited. With my brain injury, I struggle to track how long a week as been and what has happened within that time. However, I have a weekly Pilates class and weekly trash days. The problem with using any of the trash days is that I don’t use them if I don’t need them. I typically need to use them once a month.
There is an awkward amount of time prior to leaving for my Pilates class. So during this time, after I get things a brought home settled, makes the most sense.
“Wipe Down Wednesday”
I learned from a past company that giving these routines ridiculous names is helpful for remember the activity. So I called it “Wipe Down Wednesday”. Then I promptly forgot the exact name and sometimes called it “Wipe Away Wednesday”, like a do over.
My Pilates class had already been on hold for a few months during COVID-19 when I started this system. It’s been difficult to restock my specific foods, due to my MCAS restrictions, so I’ve been cooking less, which makes it harder to tell if the system really accomplishes it’s goal.
Since, I have not had any other allergic reactions caused by old food, virus, or bacteria on the food at home. I discovered I had been eating a food from a restaurant that was fried in peanut oil! I never saw that coming. It built up in my system to the extend that it took weeks to recover. It still wasn’t quite a severe as the mold reaction.
Every Wednesday in June I wiped down all my kitchen touch points. I also worked harder to get food, in the trash, to the outside can or disposal to limit the exposure inside the house.
Reflection
The system worked very well in June and was very easy to maintain. I had no trouble getting myself to do it. My food supply was visible during most of this activity and I would take the opportunity to evaluate if I need to move food to the refrigerator or freezer, etc.
Wednesdays may not continue to work if my Pilates class moves or get too busy on that day. For now, it’s still easy to remember due to the corny name and the fact that we’re doing similar activity at work to help fight COVID-19 spread.
Food shopping has been irregular right now and I’m shopping from different stores than I normally do, so this could alter the system a bit as well. I found in my food budgeting article that shopping once a week was the most budget friendly frequency. I also believe it’s the best food safety wise, so I may buy some grains and frozen foods every other week but the fresh foods will be purchased weekly.
This process will continue to improve food safety at home and I hope you found it helpful as well. I’d love to hear about your food safety practices and experiences!