Prevent the spread of Listeria

The bacteria called Listeria are bad news. Eating food contaminated with Listeria can make you so sick that you have to be hospitalized. For certain vulnerable people, the illness can be fatal.

Listeria has been most recently linked to fresh produce, but past cases of Listeria have been connected to a variety of ready-to-eat foods. These foods include unpasteurized milk and dairy products, Mexican-style or soft cheeses made with unpasteurized milk, processed deli meats, hot dogs, smoked seafood, and store-prepared deli-salads.

Listeria can grow in the fridge

Unlike most bacteria, Listeria germs can grow and spread in the refrigerator. If you unknowingly refrigerate Listeria contaminated food, the germs could contaminate your refrigerator and spread to other foods, increasing the risk that you and your family will become sick.

Preventing the spread of Listeria

To prevent the spread of Listeria, wash all fruits and vegetables under running water just before eating, cutting, or cooking, even if you plan to peel the produce first. Scrub firm produce such as melons and cucumbers with a clean produce brush.

Check refrigerator and freezer temperature

Although Listeria can grow in the refrigerator, it grows more slowly at temperatures of 40 degrees F or less. Keep your refrigerator at 40 degrees F or lower and the freezer at 0 degrees F or lower. Place a refrigerator thermometer in the refrigerator and check the temperature periodically. If necessary, adjust the refrigerator temperature to keep foods as cold as possible without causing them to freeze. Place a second thermometer in the freezer to check the temperature there.

Keep the refrigerator clean

In addition to washing fresh produce and checking the temperature in the refrigerator, you can prevent spread of Listeria by keeping your refrigerator clean. Listeria can contaminate other foods through spills in the refrigerator. To protect refrigerated foods, wrap or cover with a sheet of plastic wrap or foil. Another option is to put foods in plastic bags or covered containers before refrigerating.

Use precooked and ready-to-eat foods as soon as possible. Longer storage times mean an extended opportunity for Listeria to grow. Check the use-by dates of processed meats like hot dogs and lunch meat.

Clean up all spills in your refrigerator right away, especially juices from hot dog and lunch meat packages, raw meat, and raw poultry. Use paper towels to avoid transferring germs from a cloth towel. Clean the inside walls and shelves of your refrigerator with warm water and liquid soap, then rinse. As an added measure of caution, you can sanitize your refrigerator monthly, just as you would kitchen surfaces.

Five Tips for a Safe, Healthy Lunch Box

Have you thought about what you’ll be packing in your child’s lunch box this year? Here are five tips for packing a safe and healthy lunch for yourself, or for a child starting a new school year.

1. Choose a good lunch box or bag 

Soft insulated lunch bags or boxes are the best choice for keeping lunches cold.  Metal or plastic lunch boxes without insulation don’t perform as well, but they keep lunches cold better than paper lunch bags. If you do use paper lunch bags, double bag to create an extra layer of insulation to protect the food inside.  Remember to wash insulated lunch totes and lunch boxes with hot soapy water after each use.

2.    Plan ahead

To avoid the morning rush, prepare the food the night before and store in the refrigerator. Freezing sandwiches helps them stay cold. For best quality, don’t freeze sandwiches containing mayonnaise, lettuce, or tomatoes. Pack these to add later.

3.    Keep foods at safe temperature

School lunches are often stored in classrooms, and the air temperature of most classrooms puts lunches in the temperature danger zone.  Bacteria grow and multiply rapidly in temperatures between 40 ºF and 140 ºF, so make sure that foods stay out of this zone before lunchtime hits. Small frozen gel packs work well to keep foods cold, or freeze juice boxes or small bottled water and pack in your bag or lunch box.

Even pre-packed combos containing luncheon meats, cheese, crackers and condiments must be kept cold. This includes luncheon meats and smoked ham which are cured or contain preservatives.

Some foods that don’t require refrigeration and are great to include in a bag lunch are fruits, vegetables, jerky, hard cheese, unopened canned meat or fish, chips, bread, crackers, peanut butter, jelly, mustard and pickles.

4.    Pack a nutritious lunch

Include a variety of foods, but watch added fats, sugars, and sodium.  Look for added sugar in beverages like fruit drinks, punches, and ades.  These often contain little or no fruit juice and are loaded with corn syrup or other sugars.  Fruit drinks and punches can contain as much as 12 teaspoons of sugar for a 12-ounce serving. That’s more than the 9 teaspoons found in most soft drinks. Instead choose fruit juices that are 100% juice. Vegetable juices can be a good choice, but they are often high in sodium.

Use only small amounts of high-fat foods, such as butter, margarine, mayonnaise, sour cream or fatty meats. Instead, include foods with dietary fiber, like fruits, vegetables, whole-grain breads, and crackers.

5.    Involve your child

Finally, involve your child in food shopping and in preparing their lunches. Regardless of their age, they have an idea of what they want in their lunch box. Choose and prepare foods that are appropriate for your child’s age. For example, slices of fresh apple or pear are ideal for a younger child, while whole fruit is fine for older children.  Pack cookies or cupcakes that supply vitamins or minerals, like oatmeal-applesauce cookies, fig bars and pumpkin cupcakes.

Eggs affect safety of homemade ice cream

Eating ice cream to beat the summer heat is one of America’s favorite pastimes. The rich, creamy flavor of homemade ice cream–whether it’s made with an old hand-cranked ice cream maker or a modern electric one–is especially tasty.

All would agree that a bout of food-borne illness is a most inappropriate way to celebrate summer. However, many families will put themselves at risk by cranking up their ice cream makers and using a recipe that calls for a raw egg base.  This is a really good way to expose your family to the nasty Salmonella bacteria.

It is commonly believed that as long as eggs are clean and uncracked they are free of the bacteria associated with raw eggs, Salmonella enteritidis. Experts now know that an infected laying hen can transmit the bacteria to the inside of the egg as her body is forming it, before shell development.  Refrigeration and freezing do not kill Salmonella, but cooking eggs to a temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit. does.

A person infected with Salmonella usually has fever, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps beginning 12 to 72 hours after eating or drinking a contaminated food or beverage. The infection generally lasts four to seven days, and most people recover without any  treatment. But for those at high risk–infants, older people, pregnant women, and people with a weakened immune system–it can be life-threatening.

So what can a person who loves homemade ice cream do? Don’t be intimidated. There are several safe ways to prepare your ice cream. First of all, update your recipes by using one of the following options:

• Find recipes that are eggless. An easy one calls for 2 cups milk, 1 cup sugar, 2 cups whipping cream or half-and-half and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Combine and stir until sugar is dissolved, then pour into a 1-gallon ice cream freezer and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions.
• Use pasteurized eggs in recipes calling for raw eggs. They are available in the refrigerator section of your local market; the container will be labeled “pasteurized.” Pasteurized eggs may cost more, but the pasteurization process destroys the Salmonella bacteria.
• Use a recipe that contains a cooked custard base. The custard base must reach 160 degrees, measured with a food thermometer, to kill the bacteria.  This is also the point at which the mixture will coat a metal spoon.

And, if you choose to use a recipe containing eggs:

• Choose Grade A or AA eggs with clean, uncracked shells.
• Use only eggs that have remained refrigerated.
• Use the eggs within recommended time limits—raw shell eggs within 3 to 5 weeks and leftover yolks and whites within 4 days. If the packaging states a “Use-By” date, adhere to it.
• Wash utensils, equipment and work areas with warm soapy water before and after contact with eggs.
• Wash your hands frequently with soap and hot water during food handling and preparation.

You can still enjoy homemade ice cream made with eggs without the side effects of Salmonella by preparing it safely.  Just make sure you use egg products, egg substitutes, or shell eggs that are pasteurized, or use a cooked egg base.

Food safety tips for grilling

Who doesn’t love a juicy steak fresh from the grill? The start of grilling season has begun, and now is a good time to revisit some basic food safety rules to keep you and your family safe and healthy.

Shopping

Food safety starts at the grocery store. Buy cold foods like meat and poultry last, right before checkout. After checkout, drive straight home and refrigerate meat and poultry immediately. This ensures that the meat stays cold enough.  And while you’re shopping, pick up a food thermometer if you don’t have one.  This handy tool is the only way to ensure foods are cooked to the proper internal temperature on the grill.

Thawing

It’s important to thaw meat and poultry before grilling.  Thaw frozen meats in the refrigerator—never at room temperature on the counter or in the sink.  If short on time, thaw meat safely under a stream of cold running water, or in the microwave, provided it will be cooked immediately.

Marinading

Marinades are a great way to add flavor and tenderness to your meat.  Always marinate meats in the refrigerator, not on the counter, where harmful bacteria can grow.  If planning to use some of the marinade as a sauce after the food is cooked, reserve part of it before putting in raw meat and poultry.

Avoid cross-contamination

When you go out to grill, make sure to have plenty of clean utensils and platters.  Cooked food from the grill should never touch platters and utensils used for raw foods. Harmful bacteria from the raw meat and their juices can transfer from the raw to cooked food, causing foodborne illness.

Internal temperatures

Make sure to thoroughly cook meat or poultry.  Using a meat thermometer, check that the proper temperature is reached. Here are the safe minimum internal temperatures for various meats:

• Cook all whole cuts of meat, including beef, veal, lamb, and pork to an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Allow meat to rest three minutes before carving or consuming.
• All ground meats, including hamburgers made of ground beef should reach 160 degrees Fahrenheit. The color of the meat does not accurately indicate doneness.
• All poultry, including whole and ground chicken and turkey, should reach a minimum 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

After grilling

Keep grilled meat and poultry hot until served – at 140 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer. If there are any leftovers, refrigerate quickly.  Throw away any food left out for more than two hours—or one hour if you are outdoors and the temperature is above 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

Finally, keep it clean. Wash your hands, and keep your grill and utensils clean. Use a sturdy grill brush to clean the grill grates once you’ve finished cooking. Wash utensils in hot soapy water and wash surfaces.

Following these food safety rules will help to ensure that your grilled meal is remembered for its flavor, not for causing foodborne illness. For more information, check out the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service website.

Throw Out Old, Expired Food

In my job, I get to take calls from consumers with questions ranging from what foods are high in iron to how to remove mold and mildew from fabrics. But the questions I most commonly hear relate to food, and all have a common theme: consumers want to know if their old food is still safe to eat.

In most instances, the answer that I provide—that the food should be disposed of—is not what the consumer wants to hear. So then the caller will go into a litany of reasons why they do not want to throw the food item out.

Here’s how it usually goes:

Caller: I have this bag of fresh coconut that I’ve had in the refrigerator for about 2 years, and I was wondering if you could tell me if it’s still good.

 Me: You have had it for 2 years?  

 Caller: Yes, but it’s been in the refrigerator.

Me:If its two years old, you should probably throw it out [very few food items have a storage time of two years, even in the fridge].

 Caller: But it’s been stored in the refrigerator.

Me:  It probably won’t make you sick, but the product quality has likely diminished to the point that it would not be very good to use in a recipe [she wants validation in not throwing out a $1.87 bag of coconut].

 Caller: Oh, well, I was hoping that it was still good.

 Sorry.

In case you are wondering, the storage time for shredded coconut is one year if the package is unopened. After it’s opened, it should be refrigerated, and can be kept for six months.

The food safety motto is “When in doubt, throw it out.”

I know folks hate to be wasteful—I do too. Throwing out food is like throwing away money.  When people are reluctant to dispose of food that may make them or their families sick, or that may produce an inferior product when used in a recipe, they should realize that carries a price tag, too.

You may have to go to the doctor because you’re sick, or you’ve spent money on ingredients and have made a coconut cake you now have to throw away because it tastes bad.  You may be further embarrassed because you took it to a church social, and now everyone thinks you’re a terrible cook. All because you would not throw away your two-year old bag of coconut. In addition to wasting money, you’ve also wasted the time you spent making the cake.

I can hear the disappointment in the voices of callers when I tell them that it’s time to throw a food product away. It’s like they are grieving, as if there was some emotional attachment to the over-mature food.

And sometimes they act like they don’t believe me, like I’m in some sort of conspiracy with the grocery stores to make them spend more money on food. I promise I’m not.

Just throw it away, and plan better next time so that you do not have to dispose of food you did not use in a timely manner.  If that doesn’t work for you, there’s always store-bought cake.

Turkey Q & A

This time of year I get tons of turkey questions. Some of the questions are really good, and others are downright entertaining. I’ll share the questions and answers here. 

Question: I have a frozen turkey left from Thanksgiving last year. How long can you store a frozen turkey in the freezer and it still be good?

Answer:  A turkey that has remained frozen continuously will be safe to eat indefinitely. However, bird’s quality may have diminished. Experts suggest that a frozen whole turkey be stored  for up to 12 months without compromising quality. If you are considering using a year-old frozen turkey as the centerpiece of a holiday meal, I suggest using the existing turkey as an ingredient in soups or other dishes and purchasing a newer turkey to serve to your guests.  By the time it’s thawed and you can assess any possible freezer burn or other quality issues, it may be too late to buy and thaw another bird in time for the holiday.  

Question: I’m leaving town 10 days before Thanksgiving and won’t be back for over a week. Can I put my 20-pound turkey in the refrigerator to thaw while I’m gone?

Answer: No. After the turkey has thawed, it must be cooked within 1 to 2 days. It will take a 20-pound bird four to five days to thaw in the refrigerator (24 hours for every 5 pounds of turkey). If you start thawing upon leaving town you will be way beyond that window. Put the turkey in the refrigerator upon returning home.  If the turkey doesn’t thaw completely by Thanksgiving you can finish up thawing using a cold water bath.  You might also consider baking the turkey from the frozen state. It will take at least 50% longer than a fully thawed turkey (which will be a really long time for a 20-pound bird), but you won’t have to worry with the thawing time.