2009 PRESS RELEASES
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May 13, 2009
THE FINAL LINE OF DEFENSE IN FOOD SAFETY
By Todd P. Haymore, Commissioner, Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Contact: Elaine Lidholm, 804.786.7686
We talk a lot about food safety here at the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS), but usually it’s from the perspective of what we do to protect the food supply. At this time of year – the start of the summer picnic season – I think it’s appropriate to talk about the consumer’s role in food safety. We may be the front line of defense, but you are the final line. We can do everything in our power to monitor and protect the food supply from farm to store, but only you can keep it safe from the store to the table.
I think back to my days as a college student and a bachelor and sometimes wonder how I managed to make it through without getting a bad case of foodborne illness. I made stupid mistakes, like taking meat out to the grill and leaving the plate with all those juices to sit in the baking sun while I grilled my burgers or chops. Then I’d plop the cooked meat back on the same plate, which by now was a veritable Petri dish of bacteria from the raw juice. For the most part, I ate this way without harmful consequences, but I was young and in the full bloom of health.
For the very young, the very old, or the immuno-compromised, mishandling food in this way could have catastrophic results. Foodborne illness for groups with compromised immunity can mean acute illness, or in worst-case scenarios, death. So I checked with our experts here at VDACS, and here are their recommendations to handle, prepare, serve and store food safely, especially during the hot summer months.
These four steps will help you keep food safe from harmful bacteria:
Clean – Wash hands, utensils and surfaces with hot soapy water before and after food preparation, and especially after preparing meat, poultry, eggs or seafood.
Separate – Keep raw meat, poultry, eggs and seafood and their juices away from ready-to-eat foods; never place cooked food on an unwashed plate that previously held raw meat, poultry, eggs or seafood.
Cook – Cook food to the proper internal temperature and check for doneness with a food thermometer. Cook eggs until both the yolk and white are firm, and cook ground beef and pork to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F. This will kill all foodborne pathogens. We have reminded people recently that properly cooked pork is safe to eat, no matter what viruses may be circulating in the environment.
Chill – Refrigerate or freeze perishables, prepared food and leftovers within two hours and make sure the refrigerator is set at 40° F or lower and the freezer is set at 0° F. Outside in warm weather, take that two-hour window down to an hour.
Here are some additional tips to keep food safe when warm weather arrives and the kitchen moves outdoors. If no water faucet is available, use disposable hand wipes or waterless hand cleaners. That way you can clean your hands before working with food or when you go from one type of food preparation to another.
To keep bacteria from spreading, wash your hands again after working with raw meat or poultry before handling other food, especially food that will not be cooked or heated. When you switch from cutting up raw meat or poultry to cutting up salad ingredients or vegetables, either wash the cutting board and utensils in hot, soapy water or use a different cutting board and utensils.
If you are using the picnic table for food preparation, be careful not to contaminate the surface with discarded marinades or fluids from uncooked meats, eggs, poultry or seafood by covering the table or disinfecting it before dining.
If you are going to marinate meat and plan to use part of the marinade as a sauce or dip, reserve some for that purpose before adding the raw meat. Discard the used marinade after the meat has been marinated.
No matter how convenient it seems, do not partially cook food the day before to finish cooking at your picnic site. If food is not fully cooked, the internal temperature will not reach a point high enough to kill off harmful bacteria. To save time, consider cooking your food completely the day before, then reheating it at your destination.
The grill should be very hot before putting meat on it. Coals are ready when they have a light coating of gray ash on them. After removing your cooked meat to a clean plate or platter, leave the grill rack in place so the fire will burn off any food residue. When grilling at a public place, be sure to clean all cooking surfaces thoroughly before use.
Keep your grilling utensils in a chlorine sanitizing solution. It will disinfect them and keep the flies off.
After the meat is cooked, use clean utensils to place it on a fresh plate for serving. Don’t re-use any of the utensils, plates or bowls that were used during the preparation of raw meat. Bacteria live in the juices of raw meat and you can contaminate safely cooked meat by putting it back on the same platter that had held the meat when it was raw.
Put perishable foods back in the cooler or refrigerator as soon as you finish eating. Don’t leave them out while you go for a swim or a hike, and don’t leave them out all afternoon to nibble on. Follow the two-hour rule: don’t leave perishable food unrefrigerated for more than two hours. Keep the ice chest closed and out of the sun. If you traveled away from home, put the ice chest in the passenger area of the car for the return trip. It’s much cooler than the trunk.
Observing these few guidelines can make outdoor cooking a more enjoyable experience by significantly reducing the chances of foodborne illness.
Click here for more information about food safety. And for suggestions about where to purchase Virginia Grown produce at the peak of freshness, visit here. I wish you all a safe and happy summer picnic season.