It’s Christmas and you want to spend your precious days off in your pajamas wrapping presents and making cookies.  Nobody blames you for that!  But if you are the kind of person whose cookie dough never makes it to the oven because you opt for savoring every morsel raw rather than cooked, there might be a problem.  Then again, there might not.

When it comes to eating raw cookie dough, there seems to be a debate in the food safety world.  Some argue that you should not, under any circumstances, eat food that contains raw eggs because there is always a risk of Salmonella enteritidis, a strain of bacteria that causes foodborne illness which can sometimes become serious, especially for children, pregnant women, people with chronic illnesses, and the elderly who are highly susceptible because of their impairment of immune responses.

Others, however, think that because the chances of coming across an egg contaminated with Salmonella is so rare, you should be able to consume foods made with raw eggs freely, even if you are taking a chance.  To give you an idea of the risk you are taking, statistics show that “only 1 of every 20,000 eggs might contain the bacteria. So, the likelihood that an egg might contain [Salmonella] is extremely small – 0.005% (five one-thousandths of one percent).  At this rate, if you’re an average consumer, you might encounter a contaminated egg once every 84 years.”  And even if you do encounter an infected egg, you still might not even become sick.

So what does this mean?  Simply, it means make your choice.  If you are worried about Salmonella, simply refrigerate your eggs, cook them thoroughly when you use them, and don’t eat them raw.  If you’re up for the risk, eat away.  Just don’t blame me when you have a run-in with Salmonella enteritidis during your vacation—or in the next 84 years.

–Aubrey Pontious

This is me. Well not really, but you can imagine what it would be like if it was . . .

Sources: farmprogress.com, incredibleegg.org, plosone.org

‘Tis the season to be jolly, but being jolly is not so easy when dealing with symptoms like diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea, and vomiting. People often mistake symptoms like these for “the stomach flu” because they don’t associate these types of symptoms with food eaten 2-3 days prior to getting sick. StateFoodSafety.com’s food safety students know, however, that there is no such thing as the stomach flu. In fact, the most likely culprit of gastrointestinal distress is foodborne illness (or “food poisoning,” if you want it to seem more exciting). Because they are often mistaken for our imagined foe, the stomach flu, very few cases of foodborne illnesses are ever reported. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that “each year roughly 1 in 6 Americans (or 48 million people) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases.”

You would think that with all of the medical advances in the world today that foodborne illnesses wouldn’t be such a problem, but despite the attention that has been placed on food safety in recent years, Americans continue to suffer. The National Environmental Health Association states that “although significant advancements have been made over the last 20 years to educate food service workers about safe food handling practices, there has been no change since 1984 in the top 3 causes of foodborne illness: … poor personal hygiene, improper holding temperatures, [and] improper cooling procedures.”

Facts like these illustrate the necessity of learning proper food safety practices. Whether you work in the restaurant industry or cook for your family, an awareness of food safety can keep customers and family members far from the exasperations caused by foodborne illness. The National Restaurant Association predicts an increase in restaurant dining with each coming year. Because most cases of foodborne illnesses come from restaurants, food safety education is a top priority. Although making food at home is typically safer when considering food safety, it is equally important to be well-educated in food safety practices when cooking food for yourself and those you love. This is especially true for households with small children, elderly family members, pregnant women, and patients with compromised immune systems.

Foodborne illnesses, although seemingly rampant, are simple to avoid if you know the causes: poor personal hygiene, lack of cleanliness in the cooking area, improper preparation of foods, and receiving food from an unsafe source. Thwarting these sources is vital. To do so, the CDC has provided these helpful tips:

1. Clean: wash hands, cooking tools (cutting boards, knives, and utensils), fruits and vegetables before preparing food.
2. Separate: Avoid cross-contamination by keeping raw meat and poultry far from other foods.
3. Cook: When cooking meat, poultry and eggs, do so thoroughly. Ground meat should reach an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees, and eggs should be cooked until the yolk is firm.
4. Chill: Separate leftovers into shallow containers and refrigerate promptly.
5. Report: Reporting foodborne illness to your local health department is an important way to keep you and the people in your community safe from additional foodborne illnesses, especially if a restaurant is suspected of improperly handling food.

By knowing and understanding the causes of foodborne illness and following these tips for prevention, you can practice safe food handling skills and get back to being jolly!

–Aubrey Pontious

Thanksgiving is over, and the leftovers are gone. It’s depressing. But who am I kidding?  Thoughts of Christmas sprang up as the last morsel of turkey hit my tongue. Even though December is still hours away, my mind already lingers fondly on fireplaces, It’s a Wonderful Life, and eggnog.

Although made-from-scratch eggnog may be one of those long-standing traditions you can’t do without, the fact is that this holiday treat is often made with uncooked eggs. And that is a definite concern. Yes, the eggs may look untainted, but don’t let their flawless shells fool you. According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), “Even grade A eggs with clean, un-cracked shells can be contaminated with Salmonella Enteritis bacteria.”

But don’t worry! There is a quick and easy solution that will keep you safe: just cook the eggs. I know it sounds crazy, but trust me. This simple step will not only keep you far, far away from bacteria this Christmas, but it will also allow you to enjoy your eggnog without fear.

Try this safe and delicious recipe found on the USDA’s website:

Holiday Eggnog

Ingredients

• 1 quart of 2% milk
• 6 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup whipping cream, whipped
• ground nutmeg

Note: And no, a dash of rum won’t make it safe! Adding alcohol cannot be relied upon to kill bacteria.

Directions

1. Heat milk in large saucepan until hot (do not boil or scald).  While milk is heating, beat together eggs and salt in a large bowl, gradually adding the sugar.
2. Gradually add the hot milk mixture to the egg mixture while continually stirring.
3. Transfer the mixture back to the large saucepan and cook on medium-low heat.  Stir constantly with a whisk until the mixture thickens and just coats a spoon.  The food thermometer should register 160° F.  Stir in vanilla.
4. Cool quickly by setting pan in a bowl of ice water or cold water and stirring for about 10 minutes.
5. Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, several hours or overnight.
6. Pour into a bowl or pitcher.  Fold in whipped cream.  Then dust with ground nutmeg and enjoy!

Calories: 135 per 1/2 cup

Cholesterol: 120 mg. per 1/2 cup

Yield: 2 quarts

Drink up!

-Aubrey Pontious

Photo Source

Source: FSIS.usda.gov

We love leftovers, hence the title of this post. But we know that it is better to have eaten once and thrown away than to never have loved (um, we mean eaten) at all. If you are going to do turkey sandwiches, soups, and casseroles this year, here’s what you need to know:

• Bacteria multiply invisibly, increasing up to 2 times their number every 20 minutes, especially when left in the Temperature Danger Zone (e.g. your counter). The acceptable amount of time for food to be left unrefrigerated is less than 2 hours; any longer and it should be thrown out.
• Proper care of leftovers begins right after the food is initially served. Home Economics classes all over the county counsel home cooks to use shallow, sealed dishes to store leftovers. This enables food to cool quickly once it is placed in the fridge.
• If the food is going to be saved for longer than just a few days, it is best to consult a food storage chart (available here), which gives standard lengths of time for refrigeration and freezing. For example, fresh, raw, and cooked eggs each have a different expiration date acknowledged on the chart.
• A great way to keep track of expiration dates of items kept in refrigeration is to date them with a permanent marker on a disposable bag or piece of tape affixed to the storage container. Date them with the date they are placed in storage as well as the last possible date the food can be used, according to the food storage chart.
• Once it’s time to take leftovers out of the freezer or refrigerator, food safety standards prompt a cook to re-heat food items until  there is steam coming off their surface or until they reach 165° F.
• When using your microwave to reheat items, first cover the food to allow the heat to disburse evenly, stir occasionally to reduce cold spots (which would more likely contain bacteria) and check the temperature of the food with a food thermometer to ensure the goal temperature of 165° F has been achieved.

Good luck to you all in love as well as sandwiches!

Julia Simmons, M.Ed., Home Economist contributed to this article.

Sources: FSIS.usda.gov Preparation, FSIS.usda.gov Be Food Safe, FDA.gov Downloads

Queso Fresco garnishing this Latin dish

The State of Utah, StateFoodSafety.com’s own back yard, is making national news this month thanks to a mysterious bootleg vendor known only as “Mr. Cheese.” Since 2009, Mr. Cheese has been using raw milk to create queso fresco, a staple in classic Latin-American cuisine. The raw milk, however, was tainted with salmonella and may have been the cause of thousands of foodborne salmonella infections across the state since 2009. The Salt Lake Valley Health Department estimates that as many as 2,100 consumers may have become infected by the contaminated cheese.

Queso fresco is a creamy, mild, and salty cheese used as a garnish in many Hispanic dishes, its flavor being commonly compared to the Greek feta cheese. When purchased in the store or from licensed manufacturers, queso fresco can be a delicious and nutritious addition to dishes made in restaurants or at home. Mr. Cheese, however, was not licensed by the UTah Department of Agriculture and Food to make or sell his “bathtub cheese.” He sold the queso from the back of his car in unlabeled containers. The facility he used to make the cheese was also outside of the requirements for safe food manufacturing, with cheese being stored inside presses on the floor, and an abundance of flies in the room and around the equipment.

While Mr. Cheese’s underground operation has been closed by county officials, he has not yet been charged nor identified by name.

For more information on this interesting case, please see the following sources:

KSL.com

Marler Blog

Creative Halloween foods courtesy of www.neatorama.com

With Halloween quickly approaching and you debate your costume options so you spend those evenings at friends parties gorging on the Jell-O molded in the shape of brains, eggs made to look like an eyeball or you eat the delicious looking chocolate cake with plastic cockroaches crawling out of it. Beware of what could really be crawling on and out of those foods… hopefully no live cockroaches or foodborne illnesses such as E. Coli, Salmonella, Listeria; these are no laughing matter. Remember those food safety principles you learned in your trusty food handler course such as time & temperature abuse or proper hand washing should still apply. Just because this time of year our traditions focus on witches, potions, & spells where strange ingredients are used; be sure those delicious egg eyeballs aren’t packing the extra punch of foodborne illnesses.

The FDA is currently investigating a multi-state outbreak of salmonella enteritidis linked to chicken eggs from as many as 13 separate brands.  An estimated 266 people in California alone have been infected by consuming the  contaminated eggs.  So far, no deaths have been reported.

A recall, which includes all 13 egg brands, involves eggs all originating from an Iowa company.  While the Wright County Egg of Galt, Iowa won’t confirm how many, experts have estimated up to 228 million eggs will be recalled from across the nation.  For additional information, read the FDA’s press release.

UPDATE (9/1/2010):  Since this recall was issued two weeks ago, the FDA egg recall has grown to include dozens of egg brands, all with similar plant numbers–typically beginning with a “P.”  The Egg Safety Center has put together a comprehensive list of all the egg products included in the recall.  If eggs you have purchased are included in the recall, don’t eat them.

Salmonella typhi is famous.  It’s killed millions since it first received attention in 430 BC when it swept through Athens and killed one third of the population–including their leader, Pericles.  More commonly known as “Typhoid Fever,” salmonella typhi is identified as a “serious public health problem” by the World Health Organization (WHO).  Anywhere from 16-33 million cases worldwide are reported annually.  People still die from this disease today–about 216,000 per year–most frequently in locations where food is not cleansed and handled properly.

Salmonella typhi presents with a number of symptoms including fever, heavy sweating, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, headache, cough, bloody noses, and rose-colored spots.  Lasting for as many as four weeks, typhoid fever can also seriously affect the lungs, spleen, liver, and brain.  As with most salmonella strains, infection generally comes from cross-contamination of contaminated foods to clean, ready-to-eat foods.  Poor sanitation and personal hygiene are also major factors.  In locations where salmonella typhi is prevalent, animals and insects are in regular contact with both feces and ready-to-eat foods, spreading bacteria from one to the other.  In the United States, salmonella typhi infections have been reduced due to education about the importance of hand washing after using the bathroom and covering the mouth and nose when coughing.  In addition to these personal hygiene measures, we are also fortunate to enjoy modern plumbing and chlorinated water that separate us from the bacteria our bodies produce.

Unlike most foodborne illnesses, certain persons infected with typhoid fever may not even know they’re sick.  In one famous case, a woman named Mary Mallon infected 53 people during her career as a cook–three of whom died.  Although she denied being infected with salmonella typhi until her death, the disease followed her from home to home, leaving a trail of suffering in her wake.  Typhoid Mary unwittingly infected the families for whom she worked by coughing, sneezing, not washing her hands, and then handling ready-to-eat foods and preparing beverages.  The legacy she left behind when she passed away from unrelated causes, was the critical importance of hand washing, vaccination, and cooking food thoroughly. Click here and here for some period posters about the ability to prevent this disease.

Finally, here is a list of famous victims of salmonella typhi:

• Abigail Adams–second First Lady of the United States
• Louisa May Alcott–author of Little Women
• Charles Darwin–naturalist, author of On the Origin of Species
• Mary Todd Lincoln–wife of Abraham Lincoln
• Wilbur Wright–one of the Wright Brothers
• Anne Frank–famous diary writer (Diary of Anne Frank)
• Pericles–famous orator and statesman in ancient Athens

Facts Source:  Wikipedia

The U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) has successfully identified the culprit in a recent multi-state outbreak of typhoid fever:  sapote fruit.  Called “mamey” fruit in the U.S., the grapefruit-size Sapote is grown commonly in Mexico and has a sweet, juicy pulp commonly used in ice creams and milkshakes.  The CDC became involved when local health departments in California and Nevada began reporting consumers infected with typhoid fever.  About 400 Americans become ill with typhoid fever annually, most while traveling in South America.  This scenario was strange because the infected persons had not been outside the United States when they contracted the disease.

CDC officials report that frozen sapote fruit pulp, used in milkshakes consumed by every person involved in the outbreak, was infected with Salmonella Typhi–more commonly known as typhoid fever.  The distributor, Goya Foods, Inc., has recalled its 14oz bags of Sapote (mamey) Fruit Pulp which were distributed in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington.   Unfortunately (and curiously) additional information is not available on the distributor’s website.

As an adult working the food safety industry, it horrifies me to think of how many food items my childhood self dropped on the floor and promptly picked up and put into my mouth.  I believed in the “5-Second Rule” like it was the 11th commandment.  In my young mind, it made perfect sense that the quicker I retrieved the tasty treat I had dropped, the greater were my chances of it arriving to my mouth “germ free.”  As I grew older I amended the rule:  “Does not apply if:  sticky, gooey, cheesy, or dropped in a public place/floor of car . . . “  That having been said, I admit that anything that qualifies as having a “candy shell” will probably still make it to my mouth after hitting the floor.  You would think I’d have a stronger immune system.

The July 2010 edition of National Geographic profiles the recent findings of Paul Dawson, Ph.D. and his graduate students (complete findings published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology).  He states, “The five-second-rule is a popular belief that if you drop food on the floor and pick it up within five seconds, it won’t be too germ laden to eat. It’s not true and we’ve proven it, it’s well, bologna.”  His study shows that foodborne illnesses like Salmonella can survive on a dry surface for up to four weeks and transfer immediately to food items upon contact.  In fact, the research was so conclusive that National Geographic has coined the new phrase “the Zero-Second Rule.”  That’s how much time, they state, your food has on the floor before it’s contaminated.  Bummer.

Sources:  National Geographic, Clemson University, Delish.com

Photo Credit:  Rebecca Hale, National Geographic Staff