It's summer time and that means friends and family gatherings and picnics! Food is frequently a focus of these get-togethers, whether they are at home, in the back yard, or at the lake. No matter where they are, there are other visitors, too...bacteria, viruses and tiny parasites, just waiting for the right time and temperature to grow. These unwelcome guests are just waiting to make their home inside of you, and they can make you miserable! Some can even be life threatening.
Who is most at risk?
Young children, older adults, and persons with weak immune systems are most at risk. In pregnant women, foodborne illness can endanger their unborn babies.
What are the symptoms?
The most common symptoms are diarrhea, abdominal cramps, vomiting, head or muscle aches, and fever. Symptoms usually appear 12 to 72 hours after eating contaminated food, but may occur between 30 minutes and 4 weeks later. Most people recover within 4-7 days without needing antibiotic treatment. If symptoms are severe, or the ill person is very young, very old, pregnant, or already ill, call your doctor immediately.
Prevention is the key!!!
Never prepare foods for others if you are ill with a diarrhea illness.
Wash your hands and surfaces often.
Wash your hands with hot soapy water for 20 seconds before and after handling food, before eating, and after using the bathroom, changing diapers, handling pets, touching a sore or open wound, or blowing your nose or sneezing.
Wash your cutting boards, dishes, utensils, and countertops with hot soapy water before preparing each food item.
Rinse raw produce in water. Don't use soap or detergents. If needed, use a small vegetable brush.
Don't cross contaminate!
Keep raw meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, and their juices away from ready to eat foods.
Store cooked and ready to eat foods above raw foods (especially thawing meat) in your refrigerator.
Always wash hands, cutting boards, dishes, and utensils with hot soapy water after they come in contact with raw meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs.
Use separate plates for cooked food and raw food. It is handy, but it is not safe to use the same plate to take the burgers out and bring them in from the grill!
Cook to proper temperatures.
Use a thermometer.
Cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm.
Fish should be opaque and flake easily with a fork.
When using a microwave oven, make sure there are no cold spots where the pathogens can survive.
Bring sauces and gravies to a boil when reheating. Heat leftovers to at least 160 degrees F.
Safe Cooking Temperatures
Ground meat:160
Beef, veal, lamb, or pork roasts and steak: 160
Poultry: 180
Eggs: yolk and white are firm
Casseroles: 160
Sauces and custards: 160
Fin fish: flesh is opaque and flakes easily
Shrimp, lobster, and crabs: shells red and flesh pearly and opaque
Clams, oysters, and mussels: shells are open
CHILL
Refrigerate foods quickly because cold temperatures keep harmful pathogens from growing and multiplying. Set your refrigerator no higher than 40 degrees and the freezer at 0 degrees
Refrigerate or freeze perishables, prepared foods, and leftovers within 2 hours.
Never defrost at room temperature.
Thaw food in the refrigerator, under cold running water, or in the microwave.
Marinate food in the refrigerator.
Divide large amounts of leftovers into shallow pans for quicker cooling in the refrigerator.
Don't pack your refrigerator. Cool air must circulate.
