Guidelines for Purchasing

Lesson 06 : Food Purchase

Guidelines for Purchasing

Dos:
  • When buying food, choose the form that you can easily handle and which you can afford.
  • Make a shopping list so that the necessary things can be purchased without wasting time.
  • Choose the type and location of market appropriate to the needs.
  • Compare prices and quality of commodity before buying.
  • Buy foods in bulk if sufficient storage facilities and money are available. It is cheaper.
  • Avoid impulse buying that is buying things you did not plan for.
  • When canned or packaged foods are buying, look out for the expiry date or ‘use by’ date. It is the last day a product is considered fresh. A food may still be safe to eat after this date but the taste and nutrient quality may not be good.
  • Some unscrupulous sellers buy products which have expired from the large shops and sell then in the open markets at prices that are cheaper. Check the expiration dates and shapes of such items before buying them.

Donts:
Do not buy processed foods when the following signs are seen:-

  • Cans are bulging or dented because they may cause food poisoning
  • Rusty can may contain spoiled food
  • Frozen food packages that are soft or soggy may have thawed for a long time and May be spoiling
  • Refrozen foods, this can be detected as stained packages or crystallized products
  • Opened or damaged packages
  • Moldy or coloured dried foods
  • Meat or fish that has dull or slimy surface
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Last modified: Thursday, 24 May 2012, 5:30 AM