[Tip! Health] Useful Food and Drug Safety Information to Know Before the Holiday Season

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety provided useful food and drug safety information to know in advance during the holiday period on the 29th.

The main contents include food purchasing tips for preparing holiday meals, proper handwashing and cooking/storage methods, food poisoning prevention rules, actions to take when symptoms of food poisoning such as diarrhea occur, safe usage methods for air fryers, and safety information on frequently used medical products during the holidays.

When purchasing ingredients for Chuseok holiday meal preparation, it is recommended to buy non-refrigerated foods such as flour or cooking oil first, followed by agricultural products like fruits and vegetables, refrigerated processed foods such as ham and fish cakes, and then meat and seafood in that order.

When purchasing health functional foods as gifts, be sure to check for health functional food labels or marks, and be cautious as selling health functional foods received as gifts on secondhand trading sites is illegal.

Before making holiday dishes, wash your hands thoroughly with soap or hand sanitizer under running water for at least 30 seconds, and always wash your hands again after handling eggs, raw meat, etc., before cooking.

When cooking ground meat such as meatballs, make sure it is cooked thoroughly inside. Ham and sausages should be cooked at a core temperature of 75℃ for at least 1 minute, and shellfish such as oysters and clams should be heated at 85℃ for at least 1 minute.

The mornings and evenings during Chuseok are chilly, but daytime temperatures rise. If holiday food is stored at room temperature for more than 2 hours, there is a high risk of bacterial growth such as food poisoning bacteria, so it should be consumed as soon as possible.

Food poisoning symptoms usually appear after eating contaminated food and mostly include diarrhea accompanied by vomiting and abdominal pain. Diarrhea and vomiting are the body’s defense mechanisms to expel toxins, so taking anti-diarrheal medicine carelessly can prevent toxins from being expelled and worsen symptoms.

When experiencing diarrhea, replenishing fluids and electrolytes is very important. Water with dissolved sugar and salt replenishes calories and electrolytes and is absorbed faster than plain water, so drinking ion drinks is helpful. If diarrhea is accompanied by severe abdominal pain and vomiting, if fever does not subside, or if there is blood in the stool, you must visit a hospital and receive medical treatment from a doctor.

On the morning of the 27th, one day before the Chuseok holiday, passengers heading to their hometowns are moving to board trains at Seoul Station in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

When cooking holiday food or reheating leftovers using an air fryer or microwave, food should be placed in appropriate containers and proper temperature and time should be observed. It is best not to consume burnt parts. According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s investigation, when cooking meat or fish with an air fryer, cooking at 200℃ or below without burning reduces the formation of harmful substances such as benzo[a]pyrene. Additionally, an exposure analysis of 20 harmful substances including heavy metals, formaldehyde, and bisphenol A was conducted on 100 paper foils and silicone food containers used in air fryers, confirming all were at safe levels.

If you suffer a burn during cooking, immediate first aid is to lower the temperature of the affected area by running cold tap water over it. For burns with blisters and oozing, there is a risk of infection, so do not burst the blisters and seek medical treatment.

For mild burns with slight redness and swelling, ointments with soothing and anti-inflammatory effects can be purchased at pharmacies and used.

When traveling long distances, motion sickness medicine may cause side effects such as drowsiness and loss of directional sense, so drivers should not take it. Children under 7 years old, pregnant women, and patients with glaucoma, urinary disorders, or benign prostatic hyperplasia may experience more severe side effects from motion sickness medicine and should not use it.

For muscle pain relief during outdoor activities, aerosol-type quasi-drug spray patches can be used conveniently. Before use, shake well, spray an appropriate amount from a distance onto the affected area, avoid spraying continuously for more than 3 seconds on the same spot, and be careful not to inhale the spray.

Also, when using personal heating devices for muscle pain relief, special caution is needed for patients with reduced sensation such as diabetic neuropathy or spinal cord injury, and children or elderly people who are not sensitive to temperature changes, as prolonged exposure (such as during sleep) to heating devices can cause low-temperature burns.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.