So we all know that eating foods like low-fat dairy, lean protein, whole grains, fruits and vegetables are good choices. You may have even heard that you should enjoy a variety foods from each of the Five Food Groups every day to get all of recommended vitamins and minerals your body needs to perform at peak athletic performance.
But what about the “why” and “how” of keeping your foods stored properly — specifically as an athlete trying to eat healthy lunches packed from home, or packing foods for those times when you find yourself away from home at games and tournaments?
Certain types of food provide excellent environments for growing harmful bacteria that may make you sick. Getting sick from food that isn’t stored or handled safely is called food-borne illness. A few causes of food-borne illness are improper handling, such as cross-contamination or improper storage, such as keeping food that should be refrigerated left out on the counter.
Cross-contamination happens when you contaminate one food with the germs of another food. Uncooked meat and poultry can contain harmful bacteria. That’s why we cook meats and poultry to certain temperatures to kill the bacteria, so we won’t get sick.
If we cut raw chicken on a cutting board, then use the same unwashed knife and cutting board to cut up lettuce for a salad, the bacteria from the chicken, specifically salmonella, is on our lettuce. This is called cross-contamination. To avoid cross-contamination, wash all cutting boards, plates or utensils that have touched raw meat before using them with other foods, such as fruits and vegetables.
Food should be kept in temperatures outside of the “danger zone” — which is between 40-140 degrees Fahrenheit. When packing your lunch, use a thermos to keep hot food hot. Using a couple of ice packs for your insulated cooler (one pack on top, and one on bottom) should do the job just fine for keeping your carrots, yogurt and turkey sandwich safe until lunch time.
Another option to keep your food cold is freezing a juice box or bottle of water and using that in place of one of your ice packs. Some foods don’t need to be kept cold or hot — these include whole raw fruits and vegetables (think produce section of your grocery store), some hard cheeses, canned meat and fish, chips, breads, crackers, peanut butter, jelly, mustard and pickles.
What about when you want to heat up leftovers for lunch? Keep it cold until you can use the microwave. If you use a microwave to warm up leftovers for lunch, make sure to let the food stand for a minute after you take it out of the microwave. This standing time isn’t just so you don’t burn yourself on your food. Your food will actually continue cooking — allowing for less cold spots in your food and less time in the danger zone. To learn more about food safety, visit foodsafety.gov.
Athletes can train harder and perform better with proper nutrition. Visit WesternDairyAssociation.org to read more about milk as an exercise recovery beverage and learn how to eat for peak athletic performance.