How to pick and buy fresh food items to remain fit & healthy? – Do’s & don’t

Introduction

We all went to markets to buy food items on a daily basis but very few know how to buy, this is because in this world of contamination, everything it looks like a slow poison where even the vegetables are planted and grown using the chemicals and hence, it has posted a great challenge for every common man to understand how he should buy the daily food items so that he can at least minimize the risk of contamination and live a healthy life.

To help people on how to buy the food items, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) introduces certain guidelines for the common man to understand the importance of buying the food items.

FSSAI is the governmental authority which keeps a check on foods items across India. Further, even for every foods business like restaurants etc, need to take FSSAI registration before commencing on the business.

 

Do’s and don’ts of selecting and purchasing food items

Let us discuss how to pick and buy fresh food items to remain fit and healthy.

1. How to pick best quality fruits and vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are the part of the daily intake and hence one must be very careful before buying these items. Here is what you should buy and what you should not.

What should you buy?

• Fresh, seasonal and locally available vegetables and fruits at the right stage of maturity.
• Always prefer green leafy vegetables that are Crisp and fresh. The darker the color, the better it is in terms of nutritional benefits.
• Fruits that are firm to touch, unblemished (not damaged), fresh and clean. In case of citrus fruits like orange, lemon, always choose juicy and succulent ones, which are heavy for their size.

What should you not buy?

• Overripe, damaged or insect-infested vegetables or fruits.
• Green leafy vegetables with wilted or yellow leaves, mushy (soft & pulpy) texture, unpleasant odor, slimy, fuzzy and moldy growth.
• Fruits that are pulpy, shriveled (loss of moisture) and overripe/rotting.

 

2. How to pick milk and milk products

Milk is another thing what we use on a daily basis. People buying it from mother dairy or Amul are relatively safer than those who are buying open milk. Here is what you should buy and what you should not.

What should you buy?

• Pasteurized milk and milk products, as they are safer.
• Packaged and sealed milk or milk from authorized milk depots.
• It is preferable to prepare curd at home
• If purchasing curd from outside, check the date of manufacture and ensure that best before date has not lapsed.

What should you not buy?

• Unpasteurized milk
• Milk that is discolored, stringy, sour in taste or curdled with unnatural odor.
• Loose milk and curd
• If the packaging of the product is not sealed properly or is puffed.
• If expiry date or best before the date on the packet has lapsed.

 

3. How to pick and buy pulses and cereals, wheat flour, rice etc

Pulses and Cereals are considered as a rich source of proteins and are major part of the vegetarian diet. Here you should consider before buying pulses and cereals:

What should you buy?

• Preferably packaged and sealed grains
• Fortified wheat flour and rice
• Even sized and clean grains

What should you not buy?

• Grains with clumps, musty and cottony growth.
• Unpleasant odour
• Stones, dirt
• Insect infestation

 

Red alert: If the food is spoiled or looks doubtful, it is best to throw it away immediately and wash the container thoroughly. Never taste such doubtful food to test if it is spoiled. Eating even a small amount of spoiled food can cause harm.

 

Image 1.1: The image has been taken from the pink book issued by the FSSAI.

 

4. The false claim of the companies – Beware

You often see on the television that companies claim that our product is sugar-free and can be consumed by the diabetes patient. However, one should not consume the products until and unless it is proved that it is really beneficial to your health. Let us see what is the actual truth behind the claims of the companies.

The FSSAI has done the extensive research on this and has created a table. We are reproducing the table from the FSSAI report so that the valuable information must reach the common man.

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Food

Claim

Clarification

Fats/Oil

“This oil is good for diabetes” or another disease or this oil is heart friendly.

All oils are 100% fat, and therefore should be consumed in recommended quantities only.

This oil does not contain cholesterol

No plant –based oil contains cholesterol anyway.

Light oil

Some oils are more easily absorbed than others but 1 gm of any oil will give the same amount of energy i.e. 9 kcal

This oil contains no saturated fats

This is not true because every kind of oil has some percentage of saturated fats, even though some oils contain more saturated fats than others.

Low fat or no fat label

Often low fats foods have extra sugar, refined flour or starch thickeners to make them taste better. These ingredients add calories from carbohydrates, which may lead to weight gain.

Sugars

“Sugar-free” and “brown sugar” label

People often associate sugar-free foods with lower calories and thus consider them for diabetics and weight watchers.

 

Sugar-free foods may be loaded with fats, refined cereals and even sugar in a different form. Brown sugar is often sucrose, tinted with caramel color.

 

5. Some useful advice to remain healthy

We shall now discuss some of the useful tips for your diet so that you can remain healthy and live a prosperous life.

• Vegetarian diets that include proteins from legumes, soy, low-fat dairy, nuts, seeds whole grains, and vegetables can easily meet your protein requirements.

• Fish is rich in long chain Omega 3- fatty acids. Frequent consumption of fish helps protect against several chronic diseases including heart disease and diabetes. Eat more oily fish like mackerel, which is both cheaper and healthier.

• Soups and salads are not always low in calories. Soups with a lot of cream, starch, coconut, noodles etc are rich in calories. Packaged soups also have high sodium and thus are not healthily. This is true for salads with rich dressing.

 

Conclusion

There can be much more to the healthy life than what we explained to you. If you follow the above guidelines then you surely be able to minimize the risk of various deadly diseases. Always remember, what you eat also defines your thinking. Hence, if you eat well you think well and ultimately which leads to better life.