Stop The Junk Food

Whether you have a career in food preparation, entertain privately, or just cook for your family, food handling has some science to it that you should know. What with hearing a story in the news every other day about yet another Salmonella or E. Coli outbreak, we could all stand to hear a refresher course in the sanitary preparing of food.

Handling food

Wash and dry hands thoroughly before handling food. Always use clean kitchen utensils for handling foods. Keep raw and cooked food apart at all times. Apply this especially to raw meat, fish, and poultry. Keep these away from cooked foods and ready-to-eat foods. Wash and dry hands, utensils, cutting boards, knives, and flat surfaces thoroughly after preparing raw meat, fish, poultry and other raw foods and before contact with other food. Ideally you should use separate cutting boards for raw and cooked foods. Never put cooked food onto a plate which has previously held these raw foods until it has been washed. Do not use the same utensil to stir or serve a cooked meal that was used to prepare the raw ingredients.

Vegetables of the root family such as potatoes, leeks and carrots often have traces of soil on them which can contain harmful bacteria, so wash them thoroughly before use. As a rule you should wash other fruit and vegetables too, especially if they are going to be eaten raw. Avoid preparing food for yourself or others if you are sick.

Defrosting

When cooking packaged frozen foods always follow instructions provided for defrosting or cooking directly from frozen. If cooking from frozen allow sufficient time for food to be thoroughly cooked and check it before serving; an extra minute in the fryer won’t hurt it. When defrosting foods make sure they are fully defrosted before cooking; being sure to allow food enough time to thaw. Never re-freeze food once it has started to thaw.

Thaw food by placing it on the bottom shelf of the fridge in a container to catch any juices, or in a bin or rack over a sink. These juices will often be contaminated so wash dishes and hands thoroughly after use. Only thaw food in a microwave oven if it is to be cooked immediately. To thaw very large meat items like turkeys, leg of lamb, etc. more quickly, let them defrost outside of the fridge. Put them in a cool place and make sure they are completely thawed before cooking.

Cooking and heating

Follow recipes and label instructions on cooking times and temperatures.

Remember to preheat the oven properly – the instructions for preheating take into account that the cooking time should be at the full temperature. Cook all foods until they are piping hot. Remember that sausages, burgers, pork and poultry are cooked all the way through and they should not be rare or pink in the middle. As a test, pierce it with a knife; any juices that run out of the meat should be clear, not bloody. Lamb and beef (except when minced or rolled) can be eaten rare, but you should make sure the outer surface is thoroughly cooked to kill any germs on the surface of the meat.

Elderly or sick people, babies, young children and pregnant women should only eat eggs cooked until both yolk and white are solid and should never eat raw or partially cooked seafood. Don’t cook foods too far in advance. Once cooked, foods should be kept covered and piping hot (above 145F) until it’s time to serve them. Keep prepared cold foods in the fridge until you are ready to serve them.

When using a microwave, stir foods and drinks and allow them to stand for a couple of minutes to avoid hot or cold spots. Check that food is hot throughout before serving. Foods that are not thoroughly cooked should be re-heated for another few minutes, but when it comes to microwaves food should not be reheated more than twice.

Cooling

Never put hot food directly into the fridge or freezer, let it cool sufficiently first. Cooling should be completed within one or two hours after cooking. To speed cooling you can divide foods into smaller portions, place in a wide dish and stand this in a shallow tray of cold water.

Extra care for babies

Because babies’ immune systems are less developed than those of an adult, they are at a greater risk of illness. To take extra care for young babies, wash bottles and utensils in hot soapy water and sterilize them using a sterilizing solution or a steam sterilizer. When adding water to baby foods, milks and other drinks always use bottled water and never water straight from the sink tap. Cook foods thoroughly until piping hot and cool them rapidly until they are comfortable to eat.

Extra care with barbecues and grills

Cooking food outdoors, particularly for large groups, can increase the risk of food poisoning. It’s harder to keep foods very hot or very cold and to keep everything clean. But with a little extra care barbecues and outdoor grills can be used safely.

Light the barbecue well in advance, making sure that you use enough charcoal and wait until it is glowing red with a powdery gray surface before starting to cook. Keep meats, salads and other perishable food in the fridge, or in an ice-packed portable cooler box, until just before you are ready to cook them. Serve salads at the last minute. Ideally use separate cooler boxes for raw meats and ready-to-eat foods. Cooler boxes can only keep food cool for a limited period so cook sooner rather than later. Better still,

if possible, fully pre-cook all poultry and sausages in an indoor kitchen and then take them straight to the barbecue to add the final barbecue flavor.

During cooking, turn food often. If it starts to burn on the outside raise the grill height or reduce the heat of the charcoal. You reduce charcoal’s heat by dampening the coals slightly or partially closing the air vents. As always, cook poultry, burgers, pork and sausages throughout with no pink bits in the middle. Keep raw and cooked foods apart at all times.

Don’t handle cooked foods with utensils that have touched raw meats and don’t put cooked or ready-to-eat foods such as salad and bread on plates that have held raw meats.

Even though there are bags of commercially manufactured pet food available in the market, a true dog lover will always favor nature dog food recipes over them. The reasons for this bias are not hard to fathom. For one homemade dog food is safer and secondly it is also not that difficult to make, if you are willing to invest just a little bit of your time and energy. One person who is best placed to advice you on natural recipes for your dog is your vet. They can offer you valuable tips on the ingredients based on your dog’s breed, size and the climatic conditions in your place. Here are some great tips for natural dog food recipes for the overall good health of your pet dog.

Organic or raw meat is something that finds a place in many nature dog food recipes. You can try out various cuts of organic or raw meat. Nature dog food recipes with assorted grains are also known to be a healthy option for your dogs. They are known to provide all the energy that your dog needs throughout the day, while also making them feel ‘full’. If you have some garden space available in your home, you can also try out nature dog food recipes with juices of vegetables and fruits, which are home grown. Dogs are known to love these juices, especially during the hot summer months. Apple bits and baby carrots can be used as snacks for your dog. Additionally you can try giving them ice cubes during the summers. These snacks make for excellent nature dog food recipes. Homemade doggy biscuits with natural ingredients are another option that you have got. Not only are they quite simple to make, they are also highly nutritious and help in keeping your dog’s daily calorie dietary intake’s calorie count low.

Now Pay Close Attention Here-

To ensure perfect growth, dogs require fiber and other nutrition’s beside meat in their diet. The Dog Food Purchased from Market is not full of all required Nutritions. Make the best healthy Dog Food Recipes at home and Increase the life span of your Dog by 134%. If you don’t know how to make healthy dog food recipes for your Dog, then this is the most important message you will ever read- Click Here

After starting a business focused on healthy dog products Distinctive Dog (www.distinctivedog.com), a new world opened up regarding the state of dog nutrition and what manufacturers do not tell consumers.

There is much debate when it comes to dog food, treats and pet nutrition. In the wild, dogs inherently hunted and consumed animals and plants. Their digestive systems were designed to break down raw meat while the enzymes present in the meat aided the digestion process.

Today, most domesticated dogs eat processed kibble containing primarily grains and refined protein sources. Once the meat source is removed, the remaining ingredients are mostly unnatural for the pet. Wheat, barley, rice, corn and oats are all man-raised crops that a dog would never eat in the wild. So how have dogs adapted to a diet consisting mostly of grains and processed protein sources?

To begin with, dogs are highly allergy prone animals. Wheat, corn, soy and barley are common culprits of allergies in dogs. The most interesting factor here is that most of these substances are not contained in the dog’s natural food chain.

Corn is an inferior protein source and some experts contend that the dog’s liver must work overtime to extract useable protein, which in the process produces excess nitrates. These nitrates place extra strain on the liver and as some veterinarians will say, is one cause of premature aging.

Wheat, soy, barley and white rice have very little nutritional value and are used by manufacturers to squeeze more profit out of their products. As a fun experiment, place your dog’s dry food in water for about 10 minutes.  If it swells dramatically, it probably contains high amounts of these grains.

There are a variety of theories on the affects of processed dog food and dog treats on our pets. Veterinarian John B. Symes writes and speaks on the affects of gluten, casin from cow’s milk, corn and soy on otherwise healthy dogs. He is a “recovered” celiac and believes these substances are blocking nutrient absorption during the dog’s digestion process.

Many of these ingredients are used as filler in commercial dog food and when mixed with water, create a sticky substance. Symes points out that the dog’s digestive tract is not designed to break down these materials and the resulting partially-digested sticky material coats the intestines, blocking absorption of essential nutrients.

“Imagine that a German shepherd puppy begins eating a wheat, barley, corn, or soy-based diet from the moment it is weaned. If inadequate levels of calcium and vitamin C are absorbed, what are the chances that its hips, elbows, spine, and other cartilaginous structures are going to form properly? I would say "Not good". Most people familiar with dogs know that this breed has a reputation for horrible hip dysplasia. But, they also have serious allergies and other immune-related disorders. This, of course, is no coincidence. Once it is understood that the allergies form in the area of the gut that is being damaged or coated by the ‘glue’, it is easy to see why the trouble breeds like the German Shepherd, Cocker Spaniel, Shih Tzu, and others have their ‘genetic’ tendencies such as allergic skin and ear problems, orthopedic abnormalities, intervertebral disc ruptures, and cancers,” contends Symes.

Another way dog food and treat manufacturers cut costs is through the protein sources. Most dog foods contain protein sources labeled as “meal”, “digest” or “by-product”. These ingredients contain meat sources that are deemed unsuitable for human consumption. Rendering plants process dead animal and other matter for animal feed, and yes pet food. With virtually no government regulation, these often contaminated protein sources pass as our dog’s dinner.

One regulation on the books was written in the National Research Council’s 1974 publication, The Nutrient Requirement of Dogs. It states that all mammals (except humans) are legally allowable “meat” for rendering as long as they are not decayed. Some states have passed an additional standard excluding dying, dead, disabled, or diseased tissues.

Deborah Lynn Dadd in her book The Nontoxic Home and Office: Protecting Yourself and Your Family form Everyday Toxins and Hazards states, “Each year about 116,000 mammals and nearly 15 million birds are condemned before slaughter. After killing, another 325,000 carcasses are discarded and more than 5.5 million major parts are cut away because they are determined to be diseased. Shockingly, 140,000 tons of poultry is condemned annually, mainly from cancer. The diseased animals that cannot be sold are processed into animal feed.

Now, there is no way to substantiate the claims but I do know that there is no real way to truly know what these ingredients actually contain. In addition, the food is processed at extremely high temperatures during the rendering process which kills much of the nutritional value that may have been present.

When we begin to examine our dog’s diet, one only wonders why dogs are prone to allergies and health issues. William D. Cusick, author of Canine Nutrition & Choosing the Best Food for Your Dog states that nations with generations of dogs raised on commercial pet food have experienced canine longevity decreases up to 50 percent. In addition they have recorded increases in cancers, reproductive complications and other health issues. Hypothesized reasons include environmental pollution, pesticides, vaccinations, urbanization, fluoridated water and commercial pet food.

Cusick furthers his point by stating that in identical environments, humans have increased life expectancy while dogs have decreased. Moreover, in countries where commercial dog food is unavailable these decreases have not been documented. This point cannot be overstated. It points to the dire need for structured research to substantiate the empirical evidence and governmental regulation within the pet food industry.

Today there is no way to concretely determine the health consequences of commercial dog food and grain based diets. As a result of these concerns, many people choose to feed their dogs a Bones and Raw Food diet (BARF). These holistic diets provide a diet closest to what dogs eat in the wild. Our pet’s stomachs are designed to process raw meat and they receive live enzymes not present in cooked food.

Another option is home cooked meals. This can be a tricky option because some human food can be toxic for our pets. A good book on the subject is Home-Prepared Dog & Cat Diets: the Healthful Alternative by Dr. Donald Strombeck. Dog nutrition is different than human nutrition, so I recommend you check with your veterinarian before considering either a BARF or home-prepared diet.

At the very minimum, read and understand pet food labels and ingredients. Ingredient labels are listed in order of quantity. Locate products with minimal levels of wheat or wheat by-products, corn, soy or barley. These are fillers that can adversely affect your dog’s digestive system and if your dog is allergic, they can cause itchy and flakey skin, dull coat and hair loss. These grains should never be listed as the primary ingredient in your dog’s food. Also, understand protein sources and ensure that the protein sources you are providing your pet are high quality and not from rendered sources.

As a general rule of thumb, do not look for quality pet food at your local grocery store or pet store chain.  Specialty pet stores often have greater expertise and can help you find the right food for your pet. If you are looking for healthy dog treats, many companies including Distinctive Dog Bakery (www.distinctivedog.com), offer home baked dog treats free from wheat gluten, soy, corn and other harmful ingredients.

Lastly, consider supplementing your dog&rsqu
o;s diet with enzymes and probiotics. Probiotics are friendly bacteria that help in digestion and the absorption of nutrients. They prevent harmful bacteria from growing and causing problems including gas, diarrhea and vomiting. Enzymes help complement probiotics during the digestion process. Adding an enzyme-probiotic mix to your dog’s diet can improve digestion, create better hair coats and increase immune function.