Food Borne Disease: Refresher Course

As cold and flu season is upon us much of our focus is on preventing just that: colds and flu. But now is also a good time to refresh our memories on food handling safety and illness prevention from food borne disease. We can take two approaches to protect our health from food illness: kitchen cleanliness and proper food storage and food preparation.

Kitchen Cleanliness: even in a spotless kitchen cross-contamination can occur. Good housekeeping practice means immediately washing anything that comes in contact with raw meat using a cleaning rag that is dedicated exclusively to clean-up of instruments and surfaces that have come in contact with raw meat or poultry. Some restaurants use pink dish rags for work in areas where raw meat is handled and white cloths in areas where cooked food is handled. It is wise to confine the handling of raw meat to as small of area as possible, such as the sink, and wipe down thoroughly after meat preparation.

A dilute mixture of warm water and chlorine bleach is an effective disinfectant for sterilizing surfaces where raw meat has been handled. For convenience keep on hand disinfecting wipes by Lysol or Clorox that kill 99% of bacteria. Use the wipes to clean counters and tools and then discard to avoid spreading bacteria and contamination from the cloth to other surfaces. I keep a spray bottle with 1/3 chlorine to 2/3's water at hand to spray surfaces and wipe dry with paper toweling. Allow the chlorine mixture to set on the surface a few minutes before wiping clean and discarding the paper toweling.

Food Handling: Safe food handling begins at the time of purchase. In the best case meat or poultry will be used shortly after purchase, but if not should be stored between 28F and 32F in the meat compartment of the refrigerator. If the meat will not be used within two days it should be wrapped in a non-permeable plastic and stored in the freezer until use, but no longer than 6 to 12 months. Meat should only be thawed in the refrigerator, never at room temperature where bacteria, yeast, molds or viruses could develop.

E. coli is the best known of food borne bacteria and can live in meat and vegetables. In fact, any food can be contaminated with it: undercooked hamburger and roast beef, unpasteurized milk, unpasteurized cider processed from unwashed apples which fell on soil contaminated by the manure of sick cows, vegetables grown in soils fertilized with cow manure. There is no way a farmer, however careful and conscientious, can know which cow is contaminated and which is not. So it is up to the cook to prepare the foods they serve properly in accordance with safe food handling guidelines.

The US Departement of Agriculture has prepared a list of Farenheit temperatures to which meat, poultry and eggs should be cooked in order to kill foodborne bacteria. Temperatures should be measured with a clean instant-read thermometer inserted at the thickest part of the meat. Reference the table below:

Fresh ground beef, veal, lamb, pork: 160F
Beef, veal, lamb: roasts, steaks, chops: 145F (medium rare); 160F (medium); 170F (well done)
Fresh pork: roasts, steaks, chops: 160F (medium); 170F (well done)
Ham: cook before eating: 160F
Ham: fully cooked, to reheat: 140F
Poultry: Ground chicken, turkey: 165F
Poultry: whole chicken, turkey: 180F
Poultry: breasts, roasts: 170F
Poultry: thighs & wings: cook until juices run clear
Stuffing: (cooked alone or in bird): 165F
Egg dishes, casseroles: 160F
Leftovers: 165F

For more information contact the USDA Meat & Poultry Hotline at 1-800-535-4555.

Fruits and Vegetables: Raw foods, such as produce, should be washed thoroughly under cool running water in an area free from contaimination from raw meat preparation. Separate utensils and cutting boards should be used for produce and meat to avoid cross contamination.

Vegetables are best stored chilled to slow deterioration. Chilling of fruits and vegetables causes all metabolic activities, including respiration, to slow down. Most fruits and vegetables are best stored at refrigerator temperatures and in conditions whree oxygen is limited. Store vegetables in the crisper compartment of the refrigerator, unwashed, until the time of use.