Eat more home-cooked food for better health

The following is a letter to ST Forum of the Straits Times of 23-7-2007 edition on healthy eating.

By Selena Goh Kim Choo (Ms)

MANY Singaporeans eat out regularly, but they may not be aware of how frequent consumption of certain types of bought food may, in the long run, be bad for health.

I have witnessed a chicken rice stallholder hosing chicken carcasses on the floor of his stall.

A stallholder's assistant, seated on a low stool, in the back lane behind the coffeeshop, cut raw ingredients on a wooden chopping board placed on the ground.

Two other stallholders proceeded to prepare raw ingredients that had dropped onto the grimy floor.

Sellers of deep-fried food, like chicken wings, curry puffs and goreng pisang, often use oil so darkened with use that it suggests countless re-uses. Such oil is said to possibly cause cancer.

How assured can we be that all kitchen staff properly store raw ingredients, especially raw meats, before they are cooked?

Just how thoroughly do busy food handlers wash raw vegetables and uncooked rice?

Do they all have different chopping boards for raw meats and for vegetables?

Some of us may be ignorant that some eating places use salt, oil, lard, MSG and bicarbonate of soda liberally. Likewise, many processed foods contain a lot of salt, preservatives, artificial colouring and flavouring, and other chemicals.

Sometimes salty and/or acidic foods are cooked in aluminium pots. Aluminium leaches into the food and, over time, is said to cause problems to the brain, lungs and bones. The same danger is said to lie in carbonated drinks in aluminium cans.

It is common to be served food in styrofoam and other take-away packets, and for hot drinks to be served in styrofoam cups. Some plastics leach harmful chemicals into the hot food, possibly causing problems to the male and female reproductive systems and even cancer.

Readers should consider eating home-cooked food more regularly, for the sake of good health.

No matter how simple a home-cooked meal is, it can be balanced, and prepared hygienically and with love.

When we do eat out, we should select our food and food outlets more wisely.

These are some small lifestyle changes that may just help us lower the incidence of cancer and heart disease, which are Singapore's top killers.