Tips for Preventing Salmonella Poisoning
Tips for Preventing Salmonella Poisoning
• Cook poultry, ground beef, and eggs thoroughly before eating. Do not eat or drink foods containing raw eggs, or raw unpasteurized milk.
• If you are served undercooked meat, poultry or eggs in a restaurant, send it back to the kitchen for further cooking.
• Wash hands, kitchen work surfaces, and utensils with soap and water immediately after they have been in contact with raw meat or poultry.
• Be particularly careful with foods prepared for infants, the elderly, and people with weak immune systems.
• Wash hands with soap after handling reptiles or birds, or after contact with pet feces.
• Avoid direct or even indirect contact between reptiles (turtles, iguanas, other lizards, snakes) and infants or people with weak immune systems.
• Don't work with raw poultry or meat, and an infant (e.g., feed, change diaper) at the same time.
• Mother's milk is the safest food for young infants. Breast-feeding prevents salmonellosis and many other health problems.
What else can be done to prevent salmonella poisoning?
You should report cases of salmonella poisoning to your state health department (http://www.fda.gov/oca/sthealth.htm). If many cases occur at the same time, it may mean that a restaurant, food or water supply has a problem which needs correction by the public health department.
