How to properly handle foods in order to minimize risk

Practicing good food safety and food prep hygiene is especially important in pregnancy to avoid serious complications for you and your baby. Pregnant women are particularly susceptible to foodborne illnesses due to the unique immunological condition created by pregnancy. While this condition protects your body from attacking the baby growing inside, it also lowers your own immune system’s defenses.

Foodborne illness occurs when a person gets sick by consuming foods or beverages contaminated with microbes, pathogens, chemicals or other harmful substances. Common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, blood or mucus in stool, abdominal pain and cramping, or mild flu-like symptoms like fever, body aches and headache.

Protect yourself against foodborne illness by avoiding contaminated foods, such as those that appear moldy, wilted, wrinkly or have a foul smell. Other signs of contamination include canned foods that are leaking, bulging or swollen, look damaged or cracked, seem abnormal in appearance or squirt liquid or foam when opened.

What to Do

Wash your hands and disinfect cooking surfaces often

Wash your hands with warm water and Dettol liquid hand wash for at least 20 seconds. Dettol liquid hand wash comes in different nice gentle scents and moisturizing ingredients to protect you from germs while keeping your hands moisturized. Pick your favorite scent and wash your hands before and after handling food, using the bathroom, changing diapers or handling pets. It’s also very important to wash and disinfect all cutting boards, dishes and utensils* with hot soapy water and Dettol Antiseptic Liquid which will protect you from 100 illness causing germs. Wash and disinfect with Dettol ASL between the preparation of raw meat, poultry, and seafood products and the preparation of any other food that will not be cooked*.

If not cleaned properly and regularly, countertops can become a breeding ground for invisible germs that spread from non-disinfected food residues, which is why it’s very important to disinfect kitchen counters after food preparation. When disinfecting your kitchen counters, use paper towels, and if you prefer, cloth dishtowels or microfiber towels. Use the trigger bottle to Spray Dettol Antiseptic Liquid on the countertops and wipe. Be sure to swap the towels out every day and wash the used ones in the hot cycle of the washing machine while adding one cap of Dettol ASL** to the laundry machine drawer. Make sure to also replace dish sponges with new ones regularly.

Finally, don’t forget to wash your foods! Rinse all produce by rubbing firm-skin fruits and vegetables under running tap water, including those with skins and rinds that are not eaten. Be especially vigilant with melons, which you should scrub before cutting with a plastic brush you can then put in the dishwasher. When cooking with canned goods, always clean the lids before opening.

*For external use only.

  Avoid contact with eyes.

  Always rinse surfaces after disinfecting with ASL

**For laundry cycles, use a 1:40 dilution ratio.