Food hygiene is a cornerstone of healthy eating. Hygiene does not only mean biological and microbiological safety (bacteria, viruses, prions, parasites, etc.), certainly very important, but also protection against all forms of chemical or pharmacological contamination.
Among the various measures, first of all there is the choice between sources of supply. It may seem disappointing but, to date, the best are the conventional large-scale retailers. Thanks to the strictest hygiene controls, it is possible to find the safest foods at supermarket counters; on the contrary, shopping across the street is often risky.
For example, in the case of fruit and vegetable foods, the most frequent cases of fraud relate to the sale of false’ organic’ products or other products which have not complied with the time limits for disposal of pesticide treatments.
For meat and eggs, however, the greatest risk is that they come from sick animals or from animals stuffed with medicines. In the latter area, the slaughter and storage stages also play an essential role; the higher the means and technology of processing, the better the levels of food safety will be.
Foods must therefore be guaranteed from production/farming (diseases, environmental contamination, etc.) to transport and throughout the entire period of preservation prior to sale (keeping temperatures, the cold chain, etc.).