‘Doctors’ grocery store list to help shoppers combat hidden health hazards
For those who didn’t catch Thursday’s episode of “The Doctors” (3 p.m. weekdays on KWTV-9), here is some helpful information from the show that will help people from catching something at the local grocery store.
Dr. James Sears, a pediatrician and one of the show’s four hosts, put together a supermarket safety check list. Here are his five items to help combat hidden health hazards while grocery shopping:
••Buy refrigerated items last – Food should go from fridge to fridge in 30 minutes, so keep your cold items cold for as long as possible. Bagging meat next to frozen items will help keep it cold on the drive home.
••Wipe grocery cart down – Babies sit on the carts all the time with dirty diapers. Be sure to wipe down that baby seating area in addition to the cart handle.
••Pay attention to expiration dates – Always buy the items with the latest expiration dates. These items are usually placed behind the items with the more imminent expiration dates.
••Check how high frozen foods are stacked – If the frozen foods are stacked too high, the higher items may not be properly refrigerated. Always pull from the bottom of the stack and make sure there are no tears in the packaging. Also, avoid items with freezer burn, which might indicate the food was thawed and then re-frozen.
••While bagging, keep meat and produce separate — One of the biggest ways to get food poisoning is from produce that has been contaminated by touching uncooked meet.
On the episode, the doctors — who also include Dr. Travis Stork (E.R. physician), Dr. Lisa Masterson (obstetrician and gynecologist) and Dr. Andrew Ordon (plastic surgeon and reconstructive surgery expert) — also revealed other hidden health hazards people come in contact with every day. Those include:
••Toxic clothing — Many fabrics contain glues, resins and chemicals like formaldehyde. Always wash new clothing before wearing it.
••Personal items – Everyday items such as purses, cell phones, keys and credit cards harbor germs like. So wash your hands often and wipe personal items clean with sanitary wipes.
••Restaurants – Disease-causing organisms lurk on pagers, salt and pepper shakers, glassware, silverware, and drink garnishes such as lemons, olives and cherries.
••Hotel rooms – The dirtiest items in hotel rooms are remote controls, comforters, glassware and light switches.
••Airplane dangers — Cramped quarters, poor air quality and hoards of people ensure that any location teeming with people, such as airplanes and airports, are also teeming with germs and disease-causing organisms.
To watch clips from the show, go to www.thedoctorstv.com.
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