How to Prevent Summer Foodborne Illness

Grilled salmon needs to be cooked to the proper temperature to ensure safety.

As grilling and picnic season is upon us a lot of our concentration is on appreciating outdoor dining and warmer weather. However, now also is an excellent time to refresh your memory on food handling safety, as well as illness prevention from food borne illness. It’s possible to take some approaches to protect your health from food illness: proper food preparation, correct food storage, and kitchen cleanliness.
Kitchen Cleanliness
Even within a kitchen that is spotless cross-contamination may occur. Great housekeeping practice will mean instantly washing anything which comes in contact with meat that is raw utilizing a cleaning rag which is exclusively dedicated to clean-up of surfaces and instruments which have come in contact with raw poultry or meat. A handful of restaurants utilize pink dish rags for work within areas in which raw meat is dealt with and white cloths within areas in which cooked food is dealt with. It’s smart to confine the handling of meat that is raw to as small of an area as you can, like the sink, and thoroughly wipe down after the preparation of meat.
To prevent food borne illness, a dilute mix of chlorine bleach and warm water includes an effective disinfectant for the sterilization of surfaces in which raw meat was handled. For convenience, keep disinfecting wipes by Clorox or Lysol on hand, which kill 99 percent of bacteria. Utilize the wipes in order to clean tools and counters then discard in order to avoid spreading contamination and bacteria from the cloth to additional surfaces. It’s recommended to keep one quart size spray bottle that 3/4 teaspoon of bleach for every quart of water (or 1 tablespoon of bleach  for every gallon of water) on hand to mist surfaces and wipe dry using paper towels. Permit the chlorine mix to set upon the surface a couple of minutes prior to wiping clean and throwing the paper towel away.
Handling Food
Safe food handling starts at the point of purchase. Within the best case poultry or meat will be shortly used after purchasing, yet if not, ought to be stored from 28°F to 32° F within the refrigerator’s meat compartment. If the meat won’t be utilized within 2 days it must be wrapped within non-permeable plastic then stored inside the freezer until used, yet no longer than six to twelve months. To prevent food borne illness, meat only should be thawed inside the refrigerator, and never at room temperature in which viruses, molds, yeast, or bacteria might develop.

E. coli includes the most well-known of food borne bacteria, as well as may live in vegetables and meat. As a matter of fact, any food may be contaminated with it: undercooked roast beef and hamburger, milk that is unpasteurized, unpasteurized cider that’s processed from unwashed apples that fell on dirt contaminated by the manure of ill cows, and vegetables cultivated in soils that were fertilized with cow manure. There isn’t any way a farmer, however conscientious and careful, may know which cow was contaminated and which was not. Therefore, it’s up to a chef to cook the foods he or she serves correctly in accordance with guidelines of safe food handling.

The United States Department of Agriculture prepared a list of Fahrenheit temperatures to which eggs, poultry, and meat must be prepared to kill food borne illness bacteria. Temperatures must be measured using an instant-read, clean thermometer put in at the meat’s thickest part. Reference the following table:
• Fresh pork, lamb, veal, and ground beef: 160° F
• Chops, steaks, roasts, lamb, veal, and beef: medium rare 145° F; 160F medium 160° F; well-done 170° F
• Fresh pork: chops, steaks, and roasts: medium 160° F; well-done 170° F
• Ham: cook prior to eating: 160° F
• Ham: thoroughly cooked, to reheat: 140° F
• Poultry: Turkey, ground chicken: 165° F
• Poultry: Turkey, whole chicken: 180° F
• Poultry: roasts, breasts: 170° F
• Poultry: wings and thighs: cook until the juices are clear
• Stuffing: cooked in bird or alone: 165° F
• Casseroles, egg dishes: 160° F
• Leftovers: 165° F
For more data regarding food borne illness call the USDA Meat & Poultry Hotline: 1-800-535-4555.

Vegetables and fruits
Raw foods, like produce, must be thoroughly washed under cold running water in a place free of contamination from the preparation of raw meat. Separate cutting boards and utensils must be used for meat and produce to avoid cross-contamination.
To prevent food borne illness, vegetables are better stored chilled in order to slow deterioration. Chilling of vegetables and fruits causes every metabolic activity, which includes respiration, to slow down. The majority of vegetables and fruits are better stored at refrigerator temperatures, as well as within conditions in which oxygen is restricted. Store vegetables inside the refrigerator’s crisper compartment, unwashed, until you use them.

What do you do to prevent food borne illness that isn’t on our list? Share with us in the comments section. We’d love to hear from you!
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Special Considerations When Handling Chicken

The most popular poultry eaten in the US deserves special attention for professional food handlers–chicken. In it’s natural state, various types of bacteria are found on uncooked or undercooked chicken, presenting the need for consistent safe food handling procedures. Bacteria thrives in temperatures from 40 degrees F to 140 degrees, and even freezing chicken does not destroy these bacteria. Only thorough cooking at the proper temperature in tandem with consistent food safety handling practices ensures its safe consumption.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service of the USDA has very stringent guidelines for poultry safety and a zero tolerance for hosting bacteria such as Salmonella Enteritidis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Campylobacter jejuni  on cooked chicken or ready-to-eat chicken based products.  Contaminated chicken is the leading cause of food-bourne disease, and every year, 25,000 consumers of contaminated chicken are hospitalized, with 500 dying from such exposure. According to Consumer Reports (2010), 66% of the chicken their investigators tested at over 100 stores contained these bacterial contaminants.

Since the primary vehicle for food contamination comes from food handlers, whether through poor hygiene or laxed food safety procedures, every food professional needs to follow these essential guidelines when handling chicken:

~ The greatest threat from chicken lies in cross-contamination of other foods when the same cutting surface is used. For example, when making a chicken salad, a separte cutting board  should be used for the vegetables than the one used to prep the chicken meat. Wash hands well  in clean soapy water after moving from the chicken preparation on to any other food to be cut and processed.

~Wash all work surfaces and utensils after cutting chicken to prevent contamination of your work area from spilled juices.

~Fresh chicken should be purchased feeling cold to the touch. It should be refrigerated immediately at 40 degrees F and used within 1-2 days of purchase.

~Freeze chicken in well sealed air-tight packages at 0 degrees F. If frozen continuously, uncooked chicken can last in your freezer for up to one year.

~Never thaw frozen chicken on a countertop or any other location. The safest method is to thaw chicken in a refrigerator, letting it come up to proper temperature over a period of 1-2 days. Thawed this way, any unused portion can be re-frozen safely 1-2 days after thawing.

~Boil marinades and cool them in the refrigerator completely before using them over chicken. Marinated chicken can be safely stored for up to 2 days in a refrigerator using an air tight container.

~Making sure that chicken is cooked to the proper temperature for safe consumption is paramount. Checking the internal temperature with a professional grade meat thermometer at the thickest part of the chicken (the breast, the thigh and under the wing) must record an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees F to ensure its safe consumption. The Food Safety Inspection Service of the USDA provides further guidelines for chicken portions and specific cuts of chicken in regard to cooking times.

Chicken is a cost effective, versatile food, found in every major cuisine and in every type of food service setting, from hospitals to resorts, from fine dining establishments to “grab and go” settings. Every food professional who is entrusted with serving the public must do so with the assurance that they are serving healthful food prepared safely, and this requires the education needed to stay abreast of the best pratices in food safety. At A Training Company, we are ready to help you meet that challenge, on your timelines, at your convenience. Visit us for more details.