Food Safety

Source: AARP.org | July 20, 2007

Food safety warnings are as much a part of summer cookouts as burgers and potato salad. But we need to think about avoiding spoiled or contaminated food all year long. Fixing, handling, and storing food safely and properly can keep us from getting a foodborne illness.

Food or drinks contaminated with bacteria, viruses, or parasites can make us sick. Bacteria such as E.coli, Salmonella, and Listeria monocytogenes cause most cases of foodborne illness.

There are more than 250 known foodborne diseases, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Each year, these diseases kill more than 5,000 people and make about 76 million people in the U.S. sick, sending 325,000 to the hospital. Luckily, most cases of foodborne illness are mild and last only a day or two.

Symptoms of Food Sickness

First symptoms of foodborne illness include nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, and diarrhea. Older people, pregnant women, children, and people whose immune systems are weak from cancer or other serious illnesses run a greater risk of getting ill. Some of the more serious complications are kidney failure in young children and infants, reactive arthritis and serious infections in older persons, and stillbirths in pregnant women.

Common Suspects

Almost all foods can spoil or become contaminated. The most likely include meat, poultry, eggs, and shellfish, as well as unpasteurized milk and juice and fresh produce. Government inspectors and food companies work hard to ensure that food is safe, but contaminated food does reach consumers.

How does food get contaminated? Sometimes germs get into food through slaughter and meat processing procedures or through water containing human and animal waste and sewage. Food handlers can also contaminate food.

Protecting Yourself from Foodborne Illness

Some simple safety measures can help reduce your risk of foodborne illness:

Keep It Clean

• Wash your hands thoroughly before, during, and after handling food. Nearly half of all cases of food sickness could be prevented if people washed their hands more often when preparing and handling food, according to the American Dietetic Association (ADA) in Chicago.
• Wash cutting boards, utensils, dishes, and kitchen surfaces you use to prepare food with hot, soapy water. Rinse well.
• Always wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly under running water, especially those you will eat raw. Use a vegetable brush. Throw away the outer leaves of lettuce or cabbage.
• Use a clean plate for cooked meats, chicken, and fish. Wash plates that held uncooked food before using them again.
• Keep sponges, dishcloths, and towels clean. If you're wiping up juices from uncooked meats, it's better to use paper towels. Throw them away when you're done.

Turn Up the Heat

• Use enough heat to kill bacteria that might be lurking in food. Cook eggs until yolks are firm.
• Use a food thermometer for meats. Judging doneness by the color of the meat could be misleading. Cook ground beef to an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit; chicken to at least 170 degrees.

Chill Out

• Set the temperature in your refrigerator below 40 degrees Fahrenheit and use a refrigerator thermometer to check it.
• Don't overpack your refrigerator. Cold air needs to circulate around food to keep it properly cooled.
• If you're transporting food that spoils easily or eating it outside, pack it in ice.
• Don't leave hot or cold food, including leftovers and groceries, unrefrigerated for more than two hours (one hour in hot weather). Any longer will give harmful bacteria a chance to grow.

In addition to the above safety measures, remember to:

• Defrost food in the refrigerator or microwave, not at room temperature.
• Use separate cutting boards for meats and ready-to-eat food, such as bread, cheese, and produce.
• Replace cutting boards with cracks and cuts, where bacteria can hide.
• Don't order rare meat in a restaurant, and send it back to the kitchen if it's pink in the middle. Avoid eateries that don't look clean. Check to see if a safety inspection certificate is posted inside the restaurant.

With care, we can lessen our chances of getting sick from what we eat.