Foodborne Illness—Keeping Food Safe to Eat!

1. Foodborne Illness—Keeping Food Safe to Eat! Food for Today

2. It is estimated that up to 80 million Americans suffer from foodborne illness, also known as food poisoning, every year.

3. The illness may be mild, lasting a day or two, or severe enough to require hospitalization. In some cases it can even result in death.

4. People most at risk for foodborne illness: • Children • Women who are pregnant • Aging adults/elderly • People with chronic illnesses or immune system disorders

5. Microorganisms Most cases of foodborne illness can be traced to harmful microorganisms. Improper food handling practices allow the harmful microorganisms to grow and spread.

6. Foodborne illness is caused by: • The bacteria itself • Toxins, or poisons, produced by the bacteria

7. Most harmful bacteria can be tolerated by the human body in small amounts. When they multiply to dangerous levels, however, they create a health hazard.

8. Bacteria reproduce rapidly in the presence of: • something to eat, • moisture, • warmth. In just a few hours, one bacterium can multiply into thousands.

9. You can’t tell whether food contains harmful bacteria. Food that is contaminated doesn’t always smell, taste, or look abnormal.

10. Bacteria that cause foodborne illness: • E-coli—contaminated water, raw or rare ground beef, unpasteurized milk or apple juice. • Listeria monocytogenes—meat and dairy products; contaminated water; soft cheeses; ready to eat foods such as hot dogs, luncheon meats, etc. (can lurk in the body for 8 weeks)

11. Salmonella—raw or undercooked foods such as poultry, eggs, and meat; unpasteurized milk. • Clostridium botulisum—improperly canned foods. • Staphylococcus aureus—on human skin, in nose, and in throat—spread by improper food handling

12. Clostridium perfringens—spores can survive cooking—often strikes food served in quantity and left for long periods on a steam table or at room temperature.

13. Cleanliness is the key to food safety!!!!!!!! • Wear clean clothes or a clean apron. • Remove dangling jewelry, roll up long sleeves, tie back long hair. • Use soap and warm water to scrub your hands before handling food. Scrub for at least 20 seconds. • When handling food, wear rubber or plastic gloves if you have an open wound on your hands.

14. Scrub your hands immediately after using the toilet or blowing your nose. • Do not sneeze or cough into food. • Do not touch your face, your hair, or any other part of your body while working with food.

15. Cross-contamination = • Letting microorganisms from one food get into another. Examples: • Using the same knife to cut raw meat and fresh vegetables. • Using the same cutting board to cut raw meat and fresh vegetables. • Not cleaning countertops, plates, or hands after contact with raw meat juices.

16. Additional cleanliness rules: • Be sure that work areas and equipment are clean. • Do not use cutting boards made of porous materials. (soft wood) • Wash the top of a can before opening it. • If you use a spoon to taste food during preparation, wash it before the second “taste”.

17. Keep pets out of the kitchen. • Keep two towels handy in the kitchen—one for wiping hands and one for drying dishes. • Dishcloths and sponges can harbor bacteria. Clean them frequently.

18. Handwashing dishes: • Rinse soiled dishes and place them on the counter on one side of the sink. • Fill the sink with hot, soapy water. • Group like items and wash glasses first, followed by flatware, then plates and serving dishes, then kitchen tools, and then pots and pans. • Use a CLEAN sponge or dishcloth to wash the dishes. • Refill the sink with hot, soapy water if the water gets too dirty. • Rinse dishes thoroughly with hot water. • Let the dishes air dry or dry with a CLEAN, dry towel. (Air drying is probably the safest drying method.)

19. Using a dishwasher to wash dishes: • Rinse soiled dishes to remove lumps of food. (You don’t need to scrub them.) • Carefully stack the dishes in the dishwasher with the dirty side facing the water source. • Make sure dishes are separated as they are stacked. • Stack the dishes following the design of the dishwasher. (i.e. Put glasses, plates, flatware, tall items, in areas of the racks designed to accommodate these items.)

20. Stack items so that they will not collect standing water. • Stack items so that they will not move with the water pressure, hit other items, and break. • Stack items so that you don’t obstruct the water flow. • Don’t over fill the dishwasher.

21. Temperature and Food Safety • Temperature is one of the most important factors in food safety.

22. Proper Food Temperature: • Bacteria multiply rapidly at temperatures between 40oF and 140oF. • High food temperatures, from 160oF to 212oF, kill most bacteria. (These temperatures are normally reached during cooking.) • Some bacterial produce spores, cells that will develop into bacteria if conditions are right. These spores can survive cooking heat.

23. Cold temperatures, below 40oF, slow down the growth of some bacteria, but do not kill them. • If food is frozen and kept at 32oF, bacteria stop growing. Bacteria or spores already present in food, however, will not be killed. When the food is thawed, bacteria will start to grow again.

24. Danger Zone = • The temperature range in which bacteria grows rapidly. • 40oF to 140oF is the DANGER ZONE!!!

25. Remember that some foodborne illness is caused by toxins. • Some types of toxins are destroyed by heat. Others remain unchanged even after food us cooked.

26. Food handling guidelines: • Avoid partial cooking! • Cook food to the proper internal temperature or until thoroughly cooked. • Taste foods containing ingredients from animal sources only after they are fully cooked. • When microwaving, take steps to ensure even, thorough cooking (rotate or stir foods during microwaving). • When reheating leftover food, bring it to an internal temperature of 165oF. • Refrigerate foods in shallow containers. • Never let food stand at room temperature for more than 2 hours.

27. Custards, cream pies, and cakes with rich fillings should be refrigerated as soon as they cool slightly. • Don’t over crowd the refrigerator to the point where air cannot circulate throughout the entire refrigerator. • Don’t taste food that you suspect may be spoiled. WHEN IN DOUBT, THROW IT OUT! • Remove all “stuffing” from leftover cooked meat, poultry, fish and refrigerate it in a separate container. Do not refrigerate the meat with the stuffing still inside. • Keep hot foods hot (above 140oF) and cold foods cold (below 40oF).

28. Properly thawing frozen food: • Place food in the refrigerator where it will thaw slowly. • Thaw in the microwave. • Put the package in a watertight plastic bag and submerge in cold water. CHANGE THE WATER EVERY 30 MINUTES. (The cold slows down the growth of bacteria.)

29. Serving food: • Do not leave food on the table or counters for more than 2 hours at room temperature. (Discard food that has been held at room temperature for more than 2 hours.) • Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold (on the range or in the refrigerator). • Do not add more food to a serving dish of food that has been on the table for a prolonged period of time. (Use a clean serving dish when offering additional food.) • Refrigerator leftovers in shallow containers. Large, deep containers keep the food from cooling rapidly and evenly.