Food and Water Safety Tips When Going Camping
Going on camping trips is definitely something to look forward to after months of stress at work or at home. It can be a relaxing and renewing experience, indeed, and so many people get lured to the call of nature.
However, a campsite, wherever it may be, is not exactly a perfectly safe place. There are dangers and perils you need to watch out for while you are at camp.
Take for example the food that you will be eating there. High protein foods such as milk, eggs, meat, poultry, fish, cream pies, and potato salad, are very attractive to bacteria and they must be kept at a temperature of above 140 degrees Fahrenheit or below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Anywhere between those can invite bacteria in and put you at a health risk. Thus, if you do not have the proper equipment to store your foods in for the duration of your camping trip, bring canned foods, instead.
If you need to bring exposed foods, prepare them ahead of time and keep them in a plastic before putting ice on them. Ice can lock in bacteria which can get into your food.
When it is time for you to eat already, always line the area where you will be eating with a clean plastic or table cloth. Also, if you think a certain food may already be rotten, do not take the chance of eating it anymore.
When it comes to water, the best type to use is purified water. However, if you do not have access to purified water at the campsite, you can boil the water and allow it to cool before drinking it. You can also put iodine liquid or tablets to your water. You may also use a filtering machine to filter out any bacteria present in the water or you can use a purifier to achieve the same end of removing or killing the bacterial.
Aside from ensuring that you are eating bacteria-free food and drinking clean water, one other thing you need to be aware of while at the campsite is the presence of ticks. Ticks are very tiny, but they can be very dangerous. The moment they find their way into your skin, you can get Lyme Disease.
You can protect yourself by covering your skin as much as possible. Ticks invade your skin through any opening they may find in your clothing. So, wear cloves or tuck your shirt into your pants. Wear long pants, too, and tuck the legs into your socks. As an additional protection, spray your clothes with an insect repellent.
When you have gone to retire to bed already, ask someone to check your body for any signs of tick invasion. If you ever find one, use a pair of tweezers to carefully remove it. If you can?t do it yourself, go and seek medical help.