September is food safety education month, a good time to take a look at what we know about storing and preparing food safely.

The Partnership for Food Safety Education suggests we take a look at some food safety myths.

Myth #1 Freezing Kills Harmful Bacteria That Can Cause Food Poisoning.

FACT: Bacteria can survive freezing temperatures. Freezing is not a method for making foods safe to eat. When food is thawed, bacteria can still be present and may begin to multiply. Cooking food to the proper internal temperature is the best way to kill
harmful bacteria. Use a thermometer to measure the temperature of cooked foods.

Myth #2 If You Eat a Vegan Diet, You Don’t Have to Worry About Food Poisoning.

FACT: Fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet, but like other foods they may carry a risk of foodborne illness. Always rinse produce under running tap water including fruits and vegetables with skins and rinds that are not eaten. Never use detergent or bleach to wash fresh fruits or vegetables as these products are not intended for consumption. Packaged fruits and vegetables labeled “ready-to-eat” or “washed” do not need to be re-washed.

Myth #3 Plastic or Glass Cutting Boards Don’t Hold Harmful Bacteria on Their Surfaces Like Wooden Cutting Boards Do.

FACT: Any type of cutting board can hold harmful bacteria on its surface. Regardless of the type of cutting board you use, it should be washed and sanitized after each use. Solid plastic, tempered glass, sealed granite, and hardwood cutting boards are dishwasher safe. However, wood laminates don’t hold up well in the dishwasher. Once cutting boards of any type become excessively worn or develop hard-to clean grooves, they should be discarded.

Myth #4 Locally Grown Organic Foods Will Not Cause Food Poisoning.

FACT: Any food, whether organic or conventional, could become unsafe with illness-causing foodborne bacteria at any point during the chain from the farm to the table. Consumers in their homes can take action to keep their families safe. That is why
it is important to reduce your risk of foodborne illness by practicing the four steps:Clean, Separate, Cook, and Chill.

Every healthy diet endorses eating lots of fresh produce. But, even fresh produce carries a health risk…pesticides.The answer…buy organic, if you can, as produce grown organically is grown without synthetic pesticides or synthetic fertilizers.

The Environmental Work Group ( EWG), a nonprofit organization that uses the power of public information to protect public health and the environment put together a Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides, which identifies those fruits and vegetables that carry the highest risk of pesticides and those that are considered less of a pesticide risk.

What follows is their list of the “Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15 of Produce.” EWG suggests that you buy organic for produce appearing on the Dirty Dozen list as these fruits and vegetables have the highest levels of pesticides.

The Dirty Dozen of Produce:

1. Apples

2. Celery

3. Strawberries

4. Peaches

5. Spinach

6. Nectarines ( imported)

7. Grapes

8. Bell Peppers

9. Potatoes

10. Blueberries

11. Lettuce

12. Kale/Collard Greens

The Clean 15 of Produce:

1. Onions

2. Sweet Corn

3. Pineapple

4. Avocado

5. Asparagus

6. Sweet Peas

7. Mangoes

8. Eggplant

9. Cantaloupe (domestic)

10. Kiwi

11. Cabbage

12. Watermelon

13. Sweet Potatoes

14. Grapefruit

15. Mushrooms

Energy drinks…what are they? Who should and shouldn’t be drinking them and why?

Supermarkets, gas station quick marts, even vending machines now offer a variety of energy drinks. Adults, teens, even children are now drinking them on a regular basis.

Athletes are scooping them up to get that extra boost thinking it will  help them do better in sports.

Adults are drinking them hoping to be more alert during meetings or just to get through a day following a poor night’s sleep. Children are drinking them to be cool!

Just because something is popular, doesn’t make it good for you. There is controversy over the  safety and suitability of energy drinks, especially when used daily.

According to Dr. Lori Bestervelt, NSF International Senior Vice President & Chief Technical Officer, there is  limited scientific evidence available that the consumption of energy drinks can significantly improve physical and mental performance.

Dr. Bestervelt states,”Energy drinks should not be confused with sports drinks, such as Gatorade or Powerade that are intended to re-hydrate the body. Sports drinks provide sugars, which the body burns to create energy and replenish electrolytes, helping to maintain salt and potassium balances in the body.

Energy drinks are formulated to deliver high concentrations of caffeine and other stimulants to give the drinker a rush of energy. Athletes use energy drinks to keep up their energy during intense physical activity and for an added edge during competition.

To provide a comparison, 8 ounces of coffee has about 108 milligrams of caffeine, brewed tea has 50 milligrams and 12 ounces of coke has 34 milligrams. Eight ounces of Red Bull, which is part of our certified for sport program, has 75 milligrams of caffeine. However, very highly caffeinated energy drinks have between 150-500 milligrams in 8 ounces.”

Dr.  Bestervelt cautions that consuming caffeine at these rates can lead to caffeine intoxication, and, at these high levels caffeine is a stimulant drug. For athletes, rather than re-hydrating their bodies, energy drinks may actually lead to dehydration. They are not formulated or designed to replace lost fluids during exercise.

Because of energy drinks’ high levels of caffeine and other stimulant ingredients, such as, green tea, yerba mate, yohimbine, bitter orange (synephrine or octopamine),vinpocetine, 5- hydroxyl trypophan, methylphenylethylamine (5-HTP) and ginseng, either alone or in combination, athletes could be putting their health at risk by consuming them.

To make matters worse, when these stimulants are used in combination with each other and mixed into one beverage they can also be associated with serious cardiovascular issues.

The bottom line is not enough is known yet about the combination of ingredients in energy drinks and their effects.

Source:

NSF International, a testing and certification organization committed to improving and protecting public health –  www.nsf.org

With radio and TV news reports, this week, announcing the recall of thousands of pounds of ground turkey because of  potential contamination with Salmonella, it’s a good time to hear what the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has to say about preventing foodborne illnesses.

“Each year, roughly 1 in 6 people in the US gets sick from eating contaminated food. The 1,000 or more reported outbreaks that happen each year reveal familiar culprits—Salmonella and other common germs.

We know that reducing contamination works.

During the past 15 years, a dangerous type of E. coli infection, responsible for the recall of millions of pounds of ground beef, has been cut almost in half.

Yet during that same time, Salmonella infection, which causes more hospitalizations and deaths than any other type of germ found in food and $365 million in direct medical costs annually, has not declined.

Yearly, 1 million people get sick from eating food contaminated with Salmonella. Applying lessons learned from reducing E. coli O157 infections could help reduce illness caused by Salmonella.”

According to the  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), food related illnesses cause about 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,200 deaths nationwide each year. That is a lot of sickness and death, that in many cases could have been prevented.

WebMD.com describes Salmonella as, “A nasty bacterium that sometimes turns up in the food supply, including chicken, tomatoes, peanuts, salsa, guacamole, and even pet food. It thrives in the intestinal tracts of animals and humans and can cause food poisoning. Illnesses range from mild to very serious infections that can kill vulnerable people. But there are ways to protect yourself.”

As  a consumer, you play a key role in preventing these illnesses. While shopping for food, you need to:

1. Check for cleanliness – Make sure your market looks, smells and feels clean.

2. Certain foods need to be kept separated – Keep raw meat, poultry and seafood apart from other foods in your cart.  Put  these foods in plastic bags to prevent their juices from dripping on other foods. As the checkout person to separate these foods from other foods in your grocery bags.

3. Inspect cans and jars – Don’t buy food in cans that are bulging or dented. Also, don’t buy food in jars that are cracked or have loose or bulging lids. Since foods sold in cans or jars are processed to be sterile, they can “keep” for a long time if the can or jar is intact. A bulging can or jar lid may mean the food was under-processed and is contaminated. A dent in a can, especially if the dent affects a seam, may cause an opening in the seam which may allow contamination, as would a crack in a jar. A loose lid on a jar means the vacuum has been lost and the product may be contaminated. Don’t buy a food product whose seal seems tampered with or damaged.

4. Inspect frozen food packaging-Don’t buy frozen food if the package is damaged. If the package cover is transparent, look for signs of frost or ice crystals. This could mean that the food in the package has either been stored for a long time or thawed and refrozen.

5. Select frozen foods and perishables last – Make Meat, poultry, fish and eggs the last items placed in your cart.

6. Choose fresh eggs carefully – Before putting eggs in your cart, open the carton and make sure that the eggs are clean and none is cracked. Buy only refrigerated eggs and follow the “Safe Handling Instructions” on the carton.

7. Be mindful of time and temperature

It’s important to refrigerate perishable products as soon as possible after grocery shopping. Food safety experts stress the “2-hour rule”—because harmful bacteria can multiply in the “danger zone” (between 40° and 140° F), perishable foods should not be left at room temperature longer than 2 hours. Modify that rule to 1 hour when temperatures are above 90° F, as they often are in cars that have been parked in the sun.

If it will take more than an hour to get your groceries home, use an ice chest to keep frozen and perishable foods cold. Also, when the weather is warm and you are using your car’s air conditioner, keep your groceries in the passenger compartment, not the trunk.

What is it about hinges on doors and cupboards that attracts little hands?

Little ones are forever putting their fingers in the hinges side of the door, or cupboard, often experiencing the pain of a finger injury.  Statistics show that more children are injured by the hinge side of the door than the handle side.

The Raising Children Network/the Australian parenting site suggests the following ways to prevent or reduce the incidence of finger injuries around your home.

• Check that your child’s hands are well out of the way before opening and closing doors, including car doors.
• Check that your child’s fingers aren’t in the way before closing windows in the car.
• Teach your child not to slam doors, and to not play around them. (Child finger injuries often involve another person, especially another child – for example, playing with an older sibling and trying to close the door on one another, resulting in a finger being jammed in the door.)

• Teach your child to keep his or her fingers away from the hinges side of doors.

• Protect your child’s fingers by using a door guard. You can find out about these at child-safety centers at children’s hospitals and your local hardware store.
• Use doorstops to hold doors open and prevent them from slamming shut. Doorstops and weighted closing systems help stop doors from slamming suddenly.
• Place a hook-and-eye latch high on doors, and/or a wedge under doors to prevent them from closing.
• Drape a towel over the top of doors to keep them ajar.
• Use a semi-circular foam mold to help prevent finger jams on the handle side of the door. This cheap guard is a U-shaped, soft, flexible piece of foam that clips onto the edge of the door, preventing it from fully closing.

• Install Finger protection strips prevent children from putting their fingers in the hinges side of a door jam.They don’t affect the appearance of your home, are easily installed and don’t alter the function of your doors. There are two sizes available: small (200 mm wide, for doors that open 90 degrees) and large (250 mm wide, for doors that open 180 degrees). You can also ask about putting them in place at your child’s kindergarten, day care or school/classroom.