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If you’re headed to the grocery store, don't make a day of it. That’s because hot temperatures mean all that food you just bought is basically a ticking time bomb for harmful bacteria growth.
Consider this: You’d never store groceries in a metal box that’s sitting out in the Singapore sun, right? But when you pack your bags in the car, that’s exactly what you’re doing. It's not exactly ideal for stuff like meat, fish, chicken, or dairy.
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Although that number will start to drop once you open your windows or crank up the air conditioning, the inside of your car still be more than warm enough for nasty bugs that could potentially make you sick to start flourishing on your food.
Exactly how long do you have before that pack of chicken cutlets or carton of milk starts to spoil?
The answer depends on where you live and what the weather is like, says Deirdre Schlunegger, CEO of the nonprofit public health organization STOP Foodborne Illness.
However, the specifics are almost beside the point. “Heat is a good medium for bacteria growth, so you want to minimise it as much as you can. The less time you have between shopping and going home, the better,” she says. “If you need to make other stops, do those before you go to the grocery store,” Schlunegger says.
That means no stopping off at the bank or wandering into the shopping mall after you’re done at the supermarket.
It also means being smart about shopping for and packing up your groceries. In the store, get into the habit of sweeping through the meat and dairy aisles last, to ensure that those items spend the least amount of time in your trolley.
Once you reach the checkout counter, pack the cold items in an insulated bag with an ice pack. Grocery shopping in Johore, and got a long ride home? It might even be worth storing your stuff in a cooler to keep it extra chilled.
Once you reach the car, put your bags inside the passenger area, Schlunegger recommends. Even if you don’t use the AC, it’ll still be infinitely cooler than your furnace of a boot.
Then head straight home and get everything into the refrigerator or freezer as soon as possible. Sure, it might feel a little hypervigilant. But it sure beats getting food poisoning.
This article was first published on Men's Health.