Basic food care in the face of heat

Conservation and refrigeration

• Immediately place the refrigerated ones in the fridge so that they do not deteriorate, and open the fridge and freezer as little as possible.
• Refrigerate cooked food as soon as possible and try not to keep it at room temperature for more than two hours.
• Inside the fridge, raw and those cooked in different spaces with covered containers to avoid contamination between them.
• Periodically check your pantry to check the expiration of foods and place the most recent ones at the bottom.
• Store packaged juices and milk in a dry, dark and cool place (although milk is very durable, in a hot environment it can lose properties).
• If you freeze food, write the date on the package as it also spoils. In case of freezing a cooked dish, it must be done quickly (it has to reach a temperature lower than 5ºC in a short time). Also, do not freeze previously thawed foods.
• Thaw food in the refrigerator or microwave just before preparing. Thawing them at room temperature is not a good practice.

When it comes to cooking

• Prepare meals as early as possible.
• Cook food sufficiently, especially meat, chicken, eggs and fish.
• Reheat meals well. It is important that the inside of the food reaches at least 75ºC. A food is hot enough when it has to be allowed to cool in order to consume it.

Eggs and salmonella

• Use fresh eggs, clean, without breakage and without signs of moisture to avoid.
• Store them in a cool, dry place at a constant temperature. The refrigerator is ideal.
• Washing the eggs is a practice that is not necessary, it can also facilitate contamination.
• Do not break the egg in the same container where it is going to be beaten later, or separate the yolk from the white with the shell.
• Cook food containing eggs to a temperature that reaches 75ºC in the center of the product. The tortillas have to be well curdled.
• Do not keep foods made with eggs (potato omelette, creams, quiche, flan…) for more than 2 hours at room temperature. These are the perfect medium for bacterial growth, if left at a temperature between 10ºC - 40ºC. They must be consumed immediately or kept in the refrigerator.
• If the egg is not cooked, consume the preparation within a maximum of 24 hours (keep in the fridge until consumption).