Jamaicans Urged to Prioritise Food Safety During Hurricane Season

Jamaicans are being encouraged to develop a food safety plan this hurricane season to guard against storm-related disruptions to food supplies and limited access to cold storage.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), food prepared in advance or leftovers should be stored either hot (at or above 60°C) or cold (at or below 10°C).

This guideline is especially critical when food is kept for more than four to five hours.

Veterinary Public Health Inspector for St. Thomas, Nardia Nembhard, explained that once a hurricane threat bulletin is issued, meat and other foods of animal origin must be prioritised for processing and consumption.

“If you have a backup system where you can actually maintain that temperature for probably two, three or four days or for an extended period, you can go ahead and apply that system. But in cases where you do not have any system to back up electricity, it is important that you try to cook that meat or try to drink that milk or get rid of those foods from animal origin,” she said.

Ms. Nembhard told JIS News that storing food at incorrect temperatures can encourage the growth of harmful bacteria.

“It is likely to become spoiled within an extended period because, of course… rule of thumb, keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold. Naturally, you’re going to have bacteria being multiplied within that system once the temperature has been abused. So, it is important for persons to ensure that they use all of those potentially hazardous and temperature-compromised products before it actually reaches spoilage,” she said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) also advises that foods prepared for infants should preferably not be stored at all.

A common mistake, responsible for numerous cases of foodborne illness, is placing large quantities of warm food directly into the refrigerator.

In an overfilled refrigerator, cooked foods cannot cool to their core as quickly as required.

When the centre remains warm (above 10°C) for an extended period, microbes thrive and rapidly multiply to disease-causing levels.