Thursday 26 March 2015

Avoid being poisoned

Although most people say that food poison can be cause by any types of reasons but food preparation is also one of the reason food poisoning happens.

Be careful when buying food is the first step to ensure food safety


Foods that are polluted maybe is because of the discipline that isnt that strict, or bad producing company, supplying company or even black market products. But for humans in the food chain, we cant do anything about it, we just have to know the right way of food processing and knowledge to ensure the safety of health. Be careful when buying food products is the first step to ensure food safety. When picking ingredients, follow the following steps:

Reducing the risk of food poisoning when purchasing food


Safe purchasing:
  • Stick to safe and qualified store
  • Stick to buying dry ingredients, cans and packaged foods
  • Check the package for any damage
  • Buy frozen, fresh or cooked foods the last
  • Check the expiring dates for dairy, seafoods, breads and cans to ensure that it is safe to consume
  • Place meat, fish or seafood in the front of you shopping cart and separate them when putting in plastic bags to avoid leaking and mixed
  • Purchase frozen ingredients below the load line
  • Separate hot and cold foods in the shopping cart
  • Cleaning agents and other products must be separated


Leaking products 


Dont purchase:
  • Rusted, bend or expand can foods
  • Opened or damaged packages
  • Leaking products
  • Damaged opened packages
  • Dirty and broken eggs
  • Changed coloured and moulded products
  • Peculiar smell and unpleasant colour looking fishes and meats
  • Damaged skin fruits and vegetables
  • Green or with bud potatoes
  • Frozen food that arent being frozen
  • Expired products


Go back home instantly after shopping


At the same time, after paying:
  • Go back home instantly
  • If the journey to home is longer than 30 minutes, then place hot foods separately
  • If you still have other places to go, then pay them later
  • after reaching home. immediately wash fresh and frozen ingredients Cut them to store in the freezer
  • Clean you hands before and after managing seafoods and meat


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Food Safety Alert


Wash the produce before you cook to prevent pesticides


The biggest threat of food safety is pesticides. You may want to follow your friend's healthy diet plan but don't blindly follow it, wash away pesticides and insecticides from our produce before cooking is the best way to have healthy meal!



For those ripen and spoil quickly, you may try the following cleaning process regarding their botanical families:

Rough surface must take extra care 


1. Solanaceae: Potatoes, Tomatoes, Eggplants


TipsBrush off the soil from potatoes with soft brush, then soak it with EnviroHome Food Wash, and gently rub with your fingers. Soak for 2-3 minutes and rinse with flowing water. For rough surfaces, cut or peel the skin thicker than usual after wash to thoroughly remove unwanted pesticides. 

 

Soak and rub with fingers to remove the wax


2. Brassicas: Cabbages, Broccolis, Cauliflowers, Radishes, Mustard Greens

TipsRemove damaged leaves from cabbages and mustard greens, pluck the leaves and soak them into water with EnviroHome Food Wash for few minutes, and then rinse with flowing water. For broccoli and cauliflower, soak it with EnviroHome Food Wash for 2-3 minutes, and gently rub with fingers to remove the wax, then rinse with flowing water.   


Use Soft brush to brush of rough surface


3. Cucurbitaceae : Cucumber, Pumpkins, Melons 


TipsSoak with EnviroHome Food Wash for few minutes, use soft brush to brush off  rough surface, and rinse with flowing water. Kindly cut off pedicel before you eat.



Wash before you eat



Must Know:

Peeled Skin Fruits: Papayas, mangoes, watermelons, pineapples, bananas

TipsEven if the skin has to be removed, you still have to wash them before you eat to prevent pesticides enter your body.



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Wednesday 25 March 2015

Tips For Choosing Fresh Vegetables


Choose produce carefully


When you accidentally choose vegetables with loads of pesticides, these poisons can end up in your food and potentially harmful effects on your health. Be careful when you buy vegetables. 

Make sure vegetables have consistently colored

Appearance: 

Most of time, vegetables can be separated into dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, amaranth and light green leaves like lettuce and cabbage. Those that lost their original greens and look may have been sprayed or soaked in pesticides. 

Tips:  Pay attention to the surface of the vegetable and make sure it's consistent, evenly colored, and firm all the way around.


Choose the regular size of vegetables to avoid growth hormone

Shape: 

Vegetables which larger than regular are usually inject with growth hormone and raised with chemical fertilizers, this cause the shape to look odd. For example, leeks have narrow leaves and generally more strongly flavored, while the leeks raised with chemical fertilizers will have leaves wider than usual. 

Tips: Choose the ones that go through normal planting and without any growth hormone injected that have normal looking shapes.

Fruits and vegetables taste best when eaten in season

 

Freshness:


Fruits and vegetables in season are usually at the peak of its freshness, flavor, and nutritional content. However, the out-of-season produces need more chemical fertilizers, growth hormone, pesticides to enhance the growth of plant.   


Tips: Fruits and vegetables taste best when eaten in season, there are also rich in nutrient and even more cheaper.


At least 3 dishes of vegetables and 2 portion of fruits per day


 

How to Eat Healthy?


Taiwan's Department of Health (DOH) suggested a daily intake of 2-4 portion of fruits, 3-5 dishes of vegetables and 1.5-4 bowls of whole grains. DOH also recommend 3-8 portion of fish, meat and eggs per day, 1.5-2 cups of low-fat dairy products, 3-7 teaspoons of fats and 1 portion of nuts.

Before you eat/cook, don't forget to wash your produces with EnviroHome Food Wash, and rinse with flowing water to wash away pesticides and insecticides. 

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Sugar-free Food Aren't What They Claim


Dont get bluffed by advertisements!


When you see phrases like low in sugar, fat free, sugar free you will probably think its healthier and feel safe to eat, but is it true?


According to nutrition claims from European Commision, sugar free products doesn't contain any mono- or disaccharides or any other food used for its sweetening properties. 


A claim that a food is low in sugars may only made where the product contains no more than 5g of sugars per 100g for solids, or 2.5g of sugars per 100ml for liquids.


However, company can make a sugar-free of low in sugar claims by using artificial sweeteners. Hence sugar-free can still be full of calories and carbohydrates.


 

Non-added juice wont be considered sugar free!



Juice with No Added Sugar!?

Therefore, even 1 cup of 100% non-added apple juice wont be considered sugar free or low in sugar just because of its natural sugar rate is higher. At the same time, suppliers will try to maintain the taste of sugar free as they will add sweetener to substitute sugar, thereby selling it low in sugar.


Sweeten the taste

Even no sugar added products arent good for health, especially sugar free beverage labeling zero calories but with lots of chemical, colouring and artificial  sweetener. 


These artificial sweetener will eventually make the consumers addicted to the taste. Once you are used to the more concentrated taste, natural sweetness from fruits and vegetables will be tasteless.


 

Artificial sweetener can cause you to become addicted to them



Artificial sweetener Make You Gain Weight


Besides, sugar free products with artificial sweetener can stimulate food desire and make you fatter, plus they arent healthy, consuming them will only bring bad effects. 


An American survey states that people who consume sugar free or low calories beverages for a long time will quickly become fatter than others, former peoples waistline growth rate will be 500% higher than latter peoples. 


Theres a report in other countries about lots eating xylitol can easily make a person vomit and have diarhea, although less eating of xylitol can have the same effect but less seriousness but absorbing after and excreting from urine will only harm your kidneys.


Sugar free may raise blood sugar


We always attracted by low in sugar and sugar free products. In reality, sugar free products can only assure there isnt any added on sugar but with loads of fats and starch. They are the same as white sugar as they raise blood pressure quickly and make a person fat, which brings patients with diabetes and patients who are losing weight trouble.



Fresh fruit in season instead of drinking juice


 

Don't be fooled by sugar-free label


If you really want to control blood sugar and stay away from being fat, eating more coarse grains, beans and potatoes, using natural fresh fruits substituting sweet beverages, not relying on low in sugar and sugar free products. In conclusion, these are just scam ideas suppliers use to attract customers.


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The More You Wash, The Dirtier It Gets

Do you really know how to clean vegetables?


Everyone knows that washing vegetables and fruit after buying is a must but do you know that the wrong way to clean will cause them to be even poisonous?



Rinsed rice water do contains bacteria, dirt & pesticides


MythRinsed rice water keep the nutrient in the vegetables

FactRinsed rice water also contains many bacteria, dirt and pesticides. It normally only used a bucket of water therefore it isn't enough to wash away the pesticides of vegetables. Once the rice are being soak, the bucket of rinsed rice water will become a pond full of pesticides, how can you continue to use it to wash vegetables?


MythOzone machine can remove pesticides

FactSo many ozone machines in the market but the cleaning ability is the same as clear water. Other than some types of pesticides cant be broken down, once ozone and nitrogen on vegetables collides and react, it will form nitrate. If ozone is left in the air, it can harm our health.


Other than that, if ozone machine is being use in a place where air flow isnt that good or long term breathing ozone, it can cause pulmonary fibrosis and chronic bronchitis.


The amount of salt you consume has a direct effect on your blood pressure


MythSalt can be us to kill bacteria on vegetables and fruits

FactSalt definitely can remove worm eggs but it will lower the ability of cleaning from the water. Once the concentration of salt is high, it will become an osmotic pressure and let the pesticides to dissolve into the vegetables and fruits; low concentration salt is mainly use to dissolve protein, it cant help with the dissolving of pesticides. Other than that, long time containing salt vegetables are bad for patients with high blood pressure and kidney problems.



MythWash after cutting

FactVegetables after being cut will have mark damages on the surface, if they under go soaking and wash, it will cause nutrient to be loss. Once the vegetables contact with air, it will speed up the oxidation process. Other than that, pesticides can also stick and remain in vegetables and fruits.



The best soaking time should be less than 5 minutes


MythExtend the soaking time

FactSoaking time more than 30 minutes can damage the leaves and even vitamins and proteins can be loss. Pesticides are mainly organophosphorus thats why it cant be remove by water or even extending the soaking time cant give back any reaction.




How to properly wash fruits and vegetables?


Organic also need to be washed
Dont think that organic vegetables and fruits can be wash casually or eat then immediately. Organic doesnt always means that its free from chemical, some are sprayed with natural pesticides and fertilisers only, doesnt mean it doesnt affect your health.ah them before eaten them!




Right way to wash
Most pesticides are contactable meaning that it stays on the surface only, therefore removing the skin can assure your health without any worries. For vegetables and fruits that cant remove the skin, a profession advice to use water to wash but pesticides doesnt only contain water soluble ones, oil soluble pesticides must be remove by cleaning agent.

To avoid a second time, cleaning agent must be chemical free and natural,the simple the ingredient the better. Using natural cleaning ability and anti bacteria to remove pesticides and bacteria and wax then use water to rinse to remove them.


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Vegetables with holes are cleaner? Don’t be naive!


Vegetables with holes are clean?

Vegetables that have vibrant and fresh colour will normally be labelled as not healthy, therefore some people will pick vegetables that have been bitten by bugs because bugs patronise them. Is that true?

Most people think that vegetables with bug bites are the cleanest because they dont contain pesticides, therefore bugs like to eat them making us safer to eat them. It seems true but its not! Vegetables with bug bites are just proofs that those bugs have not been killed by pesticides, you cant really confirm about the presence of pesticides on a certain vegetable.

  Farmers using high residue pesticide

Theres no such thing as the most poisonous, only more poisonous
You cant prevent vegetables having bug bites, vegetables and fruits have already been eaten by bugs long before having to spray on pesticides. Professions have said that you cant prevent it from happening when it is from a farm. Once a crop has been damaged by bugs, you cant really do anything. 

Another way of saying is that once a vegetable has bug bites, the only way of saving is to use more pesticides!



Pesticides don't have time for degradation before selling to markets


High residue pesticide
Other than that, normal looking vegetables need 6 to 7 days to have a natural degradation way to remove pesticides, but the pesticides we have contact with are pesticides that have been sprayed on after harvest. Therefore, the pesticides dont have time for degradation before selling to markets but they are more dangerous than vibrant coloured vegetables.


In conclusion, the outer surface of vegetables cant give out any information about the presence of pesticides, even self planted vegetables can also be dangerous due to not having regulatory authorities. We advise to purchase vegetables from supermarkets and grocery stores, other than washing with water before eating, it is best to use natural cleaning agent to easily remove water soluble and oil soluble pesticides.



On a same field
Though outer surface of a vegetable cant confirm the safeties of your health but it is safer than vegetables with special smells. Because smells from vegetables are a kind of pesticide.


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