Tips to avoid Food Decay

Quality: Some tips to avoid food decay:

Do not buy foods when they are close to their expiry date.
Do not allow dehydrated food to absorbe moisture.
Do not keep foods for a prolonged period of time in temperatures between 4 and 60 degrees.

High Risk Foods There are certain types of food that are hosts for bacteria to develop and thus they can easily become dangerous for human health if consumed. This is true mostly for foods that are not preserved in the right temperature.

Eggplants from Santorini

High risk can be consider those foods containing meat, dairy products, fish and seafood. Dehydrated, salted and thermally processed foods DO NOT belong in the high risk category. All high risk products should be kept in low temperature, below 4^o C, or above 60^o C. Bacteria that can cause food poisoning can be developed in the zone between 4 and 60 degrees and thus foods should not remain for long in this temperature. Some examples of high risk foods are given below:

High Risk Foods
Category	Example
Dairy products	Butter, yougurt, milk cream, cheese cake, custard cream
Eggs	All types
meat	All types of meat and poultry
Processed meat products	Pate, meat pies, sausages,meat products in sauces and soups
fish and seafood	oysters, octapus, caviar etc.
Other foods	pizza, ready made food, cooked rice etc.

The above table is indicative and doesn't include all high risk foods. Specific ingredients is the most important factor as to whether a food belong in this category or not. Notes from "Quality and Security" by prof. Evangelos Lazos, www.foodtech.gr