WHAT ARE TIPS TO MAKE BUYING FOOD SAFER?
Knowing what to look for when shopping for food can help you avoid food poisoning. While most people who get food poisoning make a full recovery, older adults who experience food poisoning more commonly experience serious longer-term consequences. Also, age-related changes in the body, as well as chronic health conditions, such as diabetes and kidney disease, can make it difficult to fight off infections. To avoid food poisoning, you should:
- Buy cold or frozen food at the end of your shopping trip.
- Check the “best before” date on your food.
- Check fruits and vegetables to avoid buying items that are bruised or damaged.
- Put raw food in individual plastic bags.
- Keep your raw meat, poultry, fish and seafood away from other food in your grocery cart.
- Label and use the same bag or bin for raw meat, poultry, fish and seafood.
- Refrigerate or freeze raw meat, poultry, fish and seafood as soon as you get home from the grocery store.
- Wash your reusable grocery bags.
WHAT ARE TIPS FOR MAKING MEALS SAFER?
When preparing meals and cooking dinner, there are steps you can take to reduce your risk of food poisoning.
When preparing food:
- Wash your hands before and after touching raw meat, poultry, fish and seafood.
- Wash your fruits and vegetables under cool, running, drinkable water before eating or cooking them.
- Clean sinks, kitchen surfaces or containers immediately after they have been in contact with raw meat, poultry, fish and seafood.
- Avoid reusing plates or utensils that have touched raw food.
- Use one cutting board for ready-to-eat foods, and a different one for raw meat, poultry, fish and seafood.
- Clean your countertops, cutting boards and utensils with a kitchen sanitizer before and after preparing food.
When cooking food:
- Use an instant-read digital food thermometer for a more accurate reading. Meat can turn brown before all the bacteria in your food are killed.
- Remove your food from the heat and insert the digital food thermometer into the thickest part of the meat. For hamburgers, insert it into the side of the patty, all the way to the middle.
- Clean the thermometer in warm, soapy water between each temperature reading.
WHAT ARE TIPS FOR MAINTAINING A BALANCED DIET?
The Canada Food Guide Recommends the following tips to help you engage in healthy eating:
- Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits, whole grain foods and protein-rich foods. Choose
protein rich foods that come from plants more often. - Choose foods with healthy fats instead of saturated fat.
- Limit your consumption of highly processed foods. If you choose these foods, eat them less often and in small amounts.
- Prepare meals and snacks using ingredients that have little to no added sodium, sugars or saturated fat.
- Choose healthier menu options when eating out.
- Make water your drink of choice over sugary drinks.
A way to ensure that you are maintaining a balanced diet is to look at what foods fill your plate. Most of your plate should be filled by vegetables and fruits. Fill 1/2 the plate with vegetables, 1/4 with meat/meat alternatives, and 1/4 with a starchy vegetable or whole grain serving. Water should be your drink of choice.
WHAT ARE NUTRITION CONSIDERATIONS FOR OLDER ADULTS WHO ARE MANAGING CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS?
HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE (HYPERTENSION)
Salt raises our blood pressure. About 70% of the
salt we eat on average comes from prepared foods such as canned or packaged soups, bread, cookies, breakfast cereals and frozen prepared foods.
If you have high blood pressure, you have to be more mindful about the amount of salt you eat. One solution is to shop in the outside aisles of the supermarket to avoid packaged foods, or choose those that say “low- salt.” Maintaining a healthy weight, staying physically active, limiting alcohol consumption, and eating lots of fruit and vegetables are also recommended ways to better control high blood pressure.
HEART DISEASE
If you experience heart disease, or have had a stroke, having a diet based on Canada’s Food Guide is all the more important. Your heart will thank you for replacing fatty foods with fruits and vegetables. Some nutrition tips to help manage heart disease include:
- Choose to eat whole fruits and vegetables, rather than juices, for additional fibre.
- Foods high in antioxidants can help slow the build-up of cholesterol in your veins and arteries. Examples include: broccoli, peppers, strawberries, oranges, kiwi, cantaloupe, carrots, tomatoes, squash, pink grapefruit, sweet potatoes and swiss chard.
- Look for brand names that carry no-salt, low sugar and low-fat items. Beware that some products that say they are “fat free are high in sugar. So read the ingredients on the item before you buy or eat them.
- Avoid table salt, or use low-sodium heart health salt substitutes or flavour enhancers.
DIABETES
Maintaining good control of one’s blood sugars is extremely critical for people of all ages diagnosed with diabetes or pre-diabetes. Following the same dietary guidance in the above sections will also help you better control your blood sugars. Improved control of one’s blood sugar from the early stages of the disease onwards can help avoid some of the ravaging impacts of uncontrolled blood sugars in later life, including heart and kidney disease, loss of vision, circulation problems that can lead to amputations, and loss of mobility.
CANCER
Every individual with cancer will have different nutritional needs. If you are undergoing treatment for cancer, you may need more protein and energy foods than usual. It may be easy to become dehydrated, so drinking a lot of water is recommended. You may wish to speak to your health care team about nutritional supplements that may be helpful for you to take to ensure proper protein, vitamin and mineral intake during your treatment and recovery.
WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFORMATION?
CANADA’S FOOD GUIDE
Canada’s Food Guide provides advice on how to plan meals, eat well and maintain a balanced diet.
DIETITIANS OF CANADA
Dietitians of Canada provides resources to help with healthy food choices, including links to several food trackers, self-assessment tools, cooking guides and recipes.
UNLOCK FOOD
Unlock Food (formerly Eat Right Ontario) offers A Guide to Healthy Eating for Older Adults, as well as advice about cooking and meal preparation.
Modified: 2024-02
We would like to thank the following for their support of our Education Resources to Support Healthy Ageing Initiative
- Mon Sheong Foundation and the Ben and Hilda Katz Foundation have generously provided funding to support printing and translation of our Education Resources to Support Healthy Ageing.
- The Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility supported this initiative with funding through its Seniors Community Grant Program.