Dr. Joseph Mercola Shows You How to Manage your Leftovers

Friday, September 5, 2008

Are you among those who let food go to waste because you don’t know what to do with leftovers?

Before you think about putting that steak or pasta in a garbage bag, consider this:

According to a joint report done by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Foundation, the International Water Management Institute and the Stockholm International Water Institute, HALF of the food produced worldwide is wasted.

Americans, for instance, throw away almost 30 percent of food, approximately $48 billion, when it’s been estimated that at least half of the food disposed in homes and restaurants around the U.S. isn’t bad and could still be eaten.

So how do you manage your leftovers and minimize spoilage?

Dr. Joseph Mercola , the founder of Mercola.com, the world’s most popular natural health website, has been giving sound advice on health concerns and practical tips to help you live a healthy and well-balanced life.

For Dr. Mercola, the best way of keeping your food safe isn’t buying a fancy refrigerator – it’s checking the source.

Try buying your food needs from small, local farms so you can personally check their conditions because food that is grown on a smaller scale usually contains lower levels of bacteria.

That’s the easy part. It gets a bit trickier when it’s time to determine if the food is spoiled or not.

Dr. Mercola suggests following ABC News’ “rule of four,” which means keeping food no more than four days at 40 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature will keep raw chicken, ground beef and cuts of beef and lamb safe for three days and four days for leftovers. But while temperature and age are probably the biggest factors, there are other things to consider.

Don’t throw away bread, cheese or fruits and vegetables just because of a spot of mold or an imperfection. Just cut the spot out because you can still eat the rest of it. Even if the food starts smelling a little pungent doesn’t necessarily mean that it has gone bad.

Extending the shelf life and quality of your food is just one simple and practical way of improving your lifestyle and staying healthy. Get more useful information pertinent to your health and wellbeing when you log-on to Mercola.com.