Whenever food is mentioned, one usually forms various mental images regarding the kind of food that makes his brain tickle. However, there is more to food than that appetizing and mouthwatering sensation that an individual associated with his or her food of choice. For food to become an epitome of success especially when daycare children are concerned, there are various things that must be taken into consideration. These elements include sanitation, storage, preparation, handling and finally presentation which marks the end of the cooking process. It is essential for one to consider all these processes especially when it comes to children food seeing that they are highly susceptible to infections emanating from lack of adherence to the above procedures.
Food safety sanitation requirements
Food safety and sanitation requirements are a long process as it stars from the point of purchase, storing, cooking, serving as well as disposal. According to eXtension(2015 ), a lot of care should be put in place to ensure that all the foods bought, stored, cooked, served and disposed of following the set safety guidelines to prevent cases of infection in children especially those in daycare programs. In this regard, the writer has offered several tips on ensuring food safety. Examples include cleaning the freezer and storage areas regularly, storing food in covered containers, buying inspected meats, washing of hands whenever handling food among other sanitation requirements to ensure that the children consume healthy foods.
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Storage of foods
There is a great need to ensure that food storage meets the set safety standards to ensure that they are free from an agent such as water and pests that can cause this food to be unsafe for human consumption. According to New York Department of Health (nd), dry foods such as legumes, flours, and nuts should be placed in dry and clean storage areas. Also, foods that easily go bad should be stored in refrigerators and freezers in clean and closed containers. Additionally, the storage areas should be cleaned thoroughly and regularly to prevent vermins from breeding in there.
Food preparation
The food preparation stage is a very critical part of the cooking process as this is where raw foods are transformed into edible meals. As such it is important for the food handlers to employ the best sanitation standards to ensure that the young children are not exposed to illnesses that emanate from eating dirty foods. This then means that all the foods that require washing such as fruits and vegetables are washed thoroughly. According to Bevans, Sanchez, Teneralli &Forrest (2011), in addition, the preparation surfaces and equipment should be clean and sanitized to reduce and eliminate any chance of infection.one cannot forget to mention that the food handlers should ensure self-hygiene in terms of their clothing, hair, and hands.
Food Presentation
This stage marks the final step of food preparation process it is this stage that determines whether the children will like or dislike the food. The food should be colorful, healthy and balanced to attract the attention of the children. More so the food handlers should ensure that they use clean plates, spoons, forks, knives, glasses and cups in the presentation of food. The surfaces where the children are eating from should also be sanitized to ensure that no earlier leftovers are on such surfaces (eXtension, 2015). Doing this will ensure that the children only get the best in terms of nutrition and sanitation to cut back on episodes of food infections among young children.
References
Bevans, K. B, Sanchez, B, Teneralli, R. & Forrest, C.B. (2011). Children’s eating behavior: The importance of nutrition standards for foods in schools. Journal of School Health , 81(7): 424–429.
eXtension. (2015). Food safety guidelines for child care programs . Retrieved on 15 November 2017 from http://articles.extension.org/pages/25761/food-safety-guidelines-for-child-care-programs.
New York Department of Health. (nd). Keeping food safe in child care settings . Retrieved on 15 November 2017 from https://www.health.ny.gov/prevention/nutrition/resources/safefood.htm.
