Highlands Today
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Avoiding Food-Borne Illnesses
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Published: November 24, 2008
SEBRING - The arrival of the fall and winter holiday season can bring lots of fun, food and feasting, according to FloridaAgriculture.com.
"But if food isn't handled or prepared properly food poisoning can result and festivity can quickly turn into calamity," the Web site stated. "Food poisoning is caused by toxins, created by bacteria, which in most cases are undetectable by sight, smell or taste."
With Thanksgiving just a few short days away Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson took a few moments to remind residents to follow a few food safety tips to avoid food-borne illness.
"Everybody enjoys holiday meals, and with a little care, nothing will mar the pleasure of the celebration," Bronson said. "But food-safety measures are particularly important, especially with the variety of foods being served, the number of helpers in the kitchen and the fact that food is often left out for long periods of time after being served."
About 76 million people contract food-borne illness in the United States each year and about 5,000 such cases are fatal. Young children, pregnant women, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems are the most vulnerable for contracting such illnesses, according to Bronson.
Bronson offered the following food-safety tips:
Clean and sanitize all cooking equipment.
Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water before preparing food and after contact with raw meat, poultry, seafood and eggs.
Keep raw foods away from cooked foods to avoid cross-contamination and make sure that raw meat juices never come in contact with salads and vegetables.
Defrost the turkey in the refrigerator, or if time is short, it can be defrosted under cold running water in a matter of hours. Never defrost the bird at room temperature on the counter top as bacteria can rapidly grow on raw meat stored at room temperature.
Another method to reduce defrosting time is to wrap the bird in a waterproof plastic bag and submerge it in cold water. Cold water slows the bacterial growth that may occur in the thawed outer portions while the inner areas are still thawing. Change the water every 30 minutes.
Keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot, especially when serving buffet style. Buffet servings should be kept small and be replenished often.
State and federal food-safety officials stress that the turkey should be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees F, and a food thermometer should be used to verify the temperature. An internal temperature of 180 degrees F is preferred.
Don't interrupt the cooking process. Interrupting the cooking process or cooking a turkey in stages promotes the growth of bacteria. This is because the turkey may have been heated enough to activate bacteria but not enough to kill them. Once you've started cooking the turkey, continue the cooking process through completion.
While many people cook stuffing inside the bird, officials suggest that it be cooked in a separate pan because there is no guarantee that the stuffing will reach 165 degrees F at the same time as the turkey.
Carefully store leftovers. They should be refrigerated promptly and should sit out no more than two hours after coming from the oven or stovetop. Slice the turkey before refrigerating, whole turkeys do not store safely in the refrigerator. Leftovers should be put in shallow containers to speed up the cooling process and prevent bacterial growth.
Be especially careful when making homemade eggnog. Laying hens are suspected of transmitting bacteria directly into the interior of eggs before the shells are formed. Eggnog mixtures made from raw eggs should be cooked or microwaved to 160 degrees Fahrenheit or until it thickens enough to coat a spoon, then refrigerated at once.
Pasteurized eggs are used in commercial eggnog so no cooking is necessary. Homemade eggnog using egg substitutes is also safe since these frozen commercial products have been pasteurized.
Raw eggs in holiday recipes require special care. The high temperatures required to cook cakes, cookies and candy containing raw eggs are sufficient to kill bacteria. However, the raw eggs in cookie dough may present a hazard, especially to children, the elderly and those with certain health problems, so uncooked cookie dough is not safe to eat.
Using egg substitutes and margarine for Hollandaise sauce eliminates the hazard posed by raw eggs and offers the added benefit of no cholesterol. For chocolate mousse, melt the chocolate with the liquid called for in the recipe, add the eggs and heat gently to 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
For more holiday food safety tips visit http://www.florida-agriculture.com/consumers/foods... .
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