Zanesville-Muskingum County Public Health Department Offers Tips to Avoid Food Related Illnesses

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- The holiday season is upon us, and that means a lot of holiday festivities.

For those of you hosting or attending parties, here are some helpful hints for enjoying the holidays and avoiding an unwanted trip to the hospital. Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department’s Registered Sanitarian Adam Dickerson said this time of year, there are a lot of different illnesses going around that are easily transmitted through food.

“Norovirus is easily spread,” said Dickerson.” And the most common way that it is spread, is that people that are ill not washing their hands and then touching ready to eat foods with their bare hands.”

Dickerson said there are three key things to remember when preparing your meal.

“Clean. Separate, and chill. So make sure you clean any surfaces that you are preparing food on. Wash your hands thoroughly. Seperate foods so you are not having raw foods over ready to eat foods that would maybe potentially drip onto the ready to eat food. Cook to the proper temperature. And chill food down,” said Dickerson.

Dickerson stated the most important things you can do include cooking foods to the proper temperature and washing your hands often.