Food contamination has a very big role in diarrhea cases.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Pediatrician Association (IDAI) has emphasized the importance of ensuring food safety, which includes the preparation, storage, and serving of food, to prevent diseases in children.

"Food safety is not only about cooking food, but also includes how it is prepared, stored, and served," a member of the IDAI's nutrition and metabolic disease coordination work unit, Moretta Damayanti, explained here on Tuesday.

At an online discussion on World Food Safety Day, which was followed from here, she said that before consumption, it must be ensured that each food ingredient is clean to avoid exposure to harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites, and protozoa.

When storing food, people need to pay attention to temperature as well as storage materials to avoid toxins, pesticides, and heavy metals.

Then, when serving food, it is necessary to ensure that the utensils used for cooking and serving are free from dirt and germ contamination and are food grade, Damayanti said.

"In addition to ensuring the cleanliness of foodstuffs, we also need to pay attention to the cutlery we use. The manner when giving food to children must also be safe, for instance, to prevent them from choking," she added.

She highlighted that diarrhea caused by unsafe foods is the most common disease affecting children.

Globally, around 1.7 billion cases of diarrhea in children are recorded every year.

IDAI highlighted that millions of children around the world die every year from diarrhea caused by contamination of food with bacteria, viruses, or parasites from meat, chicken, fish, and milk.

Therefore, educating parents about food safety is important so that their children grow up healthy and disease-free.

"Food contamination has a very big role in diarrhea cases. Parents who do not wash their hands before feeding their children have the risk of direct bacterial contamination," Damayanti said.

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Translator: Adimas P, Kenzu
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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