Food Safety During Hurricane Sandy…8 Tips You Need To Follow

As much of the east coast braces for the impact of Hurricane Sandy, being prepared is on everyone’s mind–and that includes food. Having enough canned and dried foods and bottled water is essential, but so is being informed about food safety. According to the FDA, one of the best precautions to take before a hurricane hits is making sure you have enough cold storage for food and that it will be stored at the proper temperatures–even if the power goes out. Here are eight essential tips to follow for food safety:

1. Make sure you have appliance thermometers in your refrigerator and freezer. Freezer temperature should be at or below 0 °F, and refrigerators should be at or below 40 °F to ensure optimal safe storage for perishables. If the power goes out, make sure you only consume foods that have been stored at these temperatures.

2. Freeze containers of water for ice. Do this now. Ice cubes, ice blocks and gel packs will help keep food cold in the freezer and refrigerator if the power goes out. Also, get some large coolers and have those ready, too. You can put blocks of ice in there with perishable foods if the refrigerator gets too warm.

3. Use these blocks of ice for drinking water. If your normal water supply is contaminated or unavailable, you can melt the ice for a supply of drinking water.

4. Freeze as much as possible now. Move refrigerated items such as milk, cheese and meat to the freezer. This will help keep them at a safe temperature longer. Also, group food together in the freezer–it will help the food stay cold longer.

5. Store dry foods off the ground. Move any pantry items to higher shelves so they are safely out of the way of contaminated water in case of flooding. This includes bottled water too.

6. Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible. This will help maintain the cold temperature. The refrigerator will keep food cold for about 4 hours if it is unopened.

7. Keep your freezer full. A freezer that is loaded with food will keep the temperature for approximately 48 hours. If it’s only half full, temperatures will be maintained for just 24 hours–assuming the door remains closed.

8. Cook all foods first. Once the power returns, if you plan to eat refrigerated or frozen meat, poultry, fish or eggs while it is still at safe temperatures, it’s important that each item is thoroughly cooked to the proper temperature to assure that any foodborne bacteria that may be present is destroyed. However, if at any point the food was above 40 °F for 2 hours or more, you need to throw it out.

Above all, please stay safe during this storm.

read more: http://blisstree.com/eat/food-safety-during-hurricane-sandy-8-tips-you-need-to-follow-705/

Power Outage Food Safety: What To Toss And What To Keep

With the East Coast bracing for the wrath of Hurricane Sandy, an estimated eight to 10 million people are expected to lose power. And with prolonged power outages come serious concerns about food safety.

"It is important to keep our food safe when the power goes out to prevent our food from spoiling, which can put us at higher risk for food borne illness," Toby Smithson, RD, founder of DiabetesEveryDay.com and a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, tells HuffPost in an email. "Salmonella is the most common problem, but E. Coli with ground beef can be dangerous, as well as others."

According to FoodSafety.gov, the most important thing is to keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed. If they stay sealed, your fridge can keep food cold for about four hours, and a full freezer for about 48 hours (24 hours if it's half full).

For a full list of tips on food safety in the event of a power outage, including preparations to take ahead of time and precautions after an outage occurs, click over to HuffPost Taste.

But what do you really need to throw out? The general rule of thumb, according to FoodSafety.gov, is to discard any perishables that have been stored above 40 degrees F for more than two hours, no matter what their appearance or odor (and never taste the food). "Words to live by with food safety concerns are, 'When in doubt, throw it out,'" Smithson says. And if you're concerned about the wasted money? "Your health is most important," she adds. "You can lose a lot more money from becoming ill (missed work time, medication costs, doctor visit costs) by consuming spoiled food than the cost of the food itself."

Still confused? FoodSafety.gov advises checking each item individually to see if it's safe to eat. We put together some of the information from their chart on what to save and what to throw out from your refrigerator. Click over to them for the full list, and for the list of what to keep and what to toss from your freezer.

Read more here:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/29/power-outage-food-safety-hurricane-sandy_n_2039351.html

Keep food safe when power is out

By SUSAN LaHOUD |

Keeping your food safe should the power go out is a way to make sure nobody gets sick in your household.

The federal Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service offers these tips on how to make the best in a bad situation to ensure the food in your refrigerator and freezer remains edible for as long as possible in the onslaught of a storm.

Before the storm and while you have power:

E Keep an appliance thermometer in the refrigerator and freezer. An appliance thermometer will indicate the temperature inside the refrigerator and freezer in case of a power outage and help determine the safety of the food.

E Make sure the freezer is at 0°F or below and the refrigerator is at 40°F or below.

E Freeze containers of water for ice to help keep food cold in the freezer, refrigerator or coolers after the power is out.

E Freeze refrigerated items such as leftovers, milk and fresh meat and poultry that you may not need immediately — this helps keep them at a safe temperature longer.

E Plan ahead and know where dry ice and block ice can be purchased.

E Have coolers on hand to keep refrigerator food cold if the power will be out for more than 4 hours. Purchase or make ice and store in the freezer for use in the refrigerator or in a cooler. Freeze gel packs ahead of time for use in coolers.

E Group food together in the freezer — this helps the food stay cold longer.

E Store food on shelves that will be safely out of the way of contaminated water in case of flooding.

After the power goes out:

E Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature.

E The refrigerator will keep food safely cold for about 4 hours if it is unopened. A full freezer will hold the temperature for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) and the door remains closed.

E Discard refrigerated perishable food such as meat, poultry, fish, soft cheeses, milk, eggs, leftovers and deli items after 4 hours without power.

E Food may be safely refrozen if it still contains ice crystals or is at 40°F or below when checked with a food thermometer.

E Never taste a food to determine its safety!

E Obtain dry or block ice to keep your refrigerator and freezer as cold as possible if the power is going to be out for a prolonged period of time. Fifty pounds of dry ice should hold an 18-cubic-foot full freezer for 2 days.

E If the power has been out for several days, check the temperature of the freezer with an appliance thermometer. If the appliance thermometer reads 40°F or below, the food is safe to refreeze.

E If a thermometer has not been kept in the freezer, check each package of food to determine its safety. If the food still contains ice crystals, the food is safe.

E Discard any food that is not in a waterproof container if there is any chance that it has come into contact with flood water. Discard wooden cutting boards, plastic utensils, baby bottle nipples and pacifiers.

E Thoroughly wash all metal pans, ceramic dishes and utensils that came in contact with flood water with hot soapy water and sanitize by boiling them in clean water or by immersing them for 15 minutes in a solution of 1 tablespoon of unscented, liquid chlorine bleach per gallon of drinking water.

E Undamaged, commercially prepared foods in all-metal cans and retort pouches (for example, flexible, shelf-stable juice or seafood pouches) can be saved.

Last but least, when in doubt, throw it out.

read more here: http://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/keep-food-safe-when-power-is-out/article_a5c1ab0e-21f7-11e2-a4fe-001a4bcf887a.html

Another Supermarket Chain Will Permanently Stop Selling Sprouts Due To 'Potential Food Safety Risk'

Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY
Kroger , the nation's largest supermarket chain, has announced it will stop selling sprouts on Monday because of their "potential food safety risk." It joins retail behemoth Walmart, which quietly stopped selling the crunchy greens in 2010.
"After a thorough, science-based review, we have decided to voluntarily discontinue selling fresh sprouts," Payton Pruett, Kroger's vice president of food safety, said in a statement.
"This is big," said Marion Nestle, a professor of food safety at New York University. "This is a major retailer saying 'We aren't going to take it anymore. We can't risk harming our customers, and our suppliers are unwilling or unable to produce safe sprouts.' "
The industry's trade group expressed concern but said it was working to keep its products safe.
"We hope that the Kroger decision doesn't have a domino effect," said Bob Sanderson, president of the International Sprout Growers Association. The industry, which depends on sampling and testing to insure sprouts are not contaminated with pathogens, is working with the Food and Drug Administration and other groups to create better safety protocols.
"We're trying, but it's very challenging," Sanderson said. "These organisms can be anywhere." The industry is also working towards a "sprout-specific" food safety audit for producers.
Walmart stopped selling sprouts two years ago, in October 2010, said spokesman Kory Lundberg.
"It really comes down to our commitment to our customers' safety and knowing the microbial risk associated with sprouts," he said. However, he added the company continues to work with the sprout growing industry to create "enhanced food safety controls and microbial intervention strategies that would result in safer sprouts."
Between 1990 and 2010, more than 2,500 Americans were sickened by contaminated sprouts in at least 46 outbreaks, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Salmonella was identified in 37 of the 46 outbreaks, E. coli with eight and listeria with one.
"It's great news," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director with the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington. Simply because of the way sprouts are grown they're "unavoidably unsafe," she said.
As the FDA says, "seeds and beans need warm, humid conditions to sprout and grow. These are the same conditions that are ideal for bacteria to grow, including dangerous bacteria like salmonella if they are present." The seeds used for sprouts can carry pathogens inside, where they're very hard to kill. Methods to destroy the contamination, such as irradiating the seeds or soaking them in bleach, haven't proved successful.
The Cincinnati-based supermarket chain operates 2,425 supermarkets in 31 states under names including Kroger, City Market, Dillons, Jay C, Food 4 Less, Fred Meyer, Fry's, King Soopers, QFC, Ralph's and Smith's.
Recent large sprout based outbreaks include:
-April 2012. Clover sprouts linked to infection with an E. coli variant in 29 people infected in 11 states.
-June 2011. Alfalfa sprouts contaminated with salmonella enteritidis sickened 21 people in five states, three of whom required hospitalization.
-May-June 2011. Fenugreek sprouts sickened more than 4,300 people and killed 50 in Europe, the United States and Canada.
-April-July 2011. Alfalfa sprouts and spicy sprout mix were linked to salmonella enteritidis that affected 25 people in five states.
-Nov. 2010-Feb. 2011. "Tiny greens" alfalfa sprouts and "spicy sprouts" sickened 140 people with salmonella in 26 states; 24(PERCENT) are hospitalized.
Mung bean sprouts have long been a component of Chinese cuisine, quickly stir fried as a vegetable. Alfalfa sprouts became popular in the 1970s in the United States as part of an overall trend towards fresh food and healthy eating. Broccoli sprouts became an overnight sensation in the 1990s when scientists at Johns Hopkins University found a cancer-fighting chemical in broccoli that was present in even higher concentrations in sprouts.
FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise that children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems should avoid eating raw sprouts of all kinds, including alfalfa, clover, radish and mung bean sprouts. Sprouts can be "cooked thoroughly to reduce the risk of illness," the FDA says.

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Food safety a growing sector for Maryland biotechs

by Lindsey Robbins,
With developing countries shipping more food to the U.S., biotechs face the opportunities — and challenges — of ensuring imports are safe for consumption.

Maryland biotech executives joined federal and academic food safety representatives to discuss meeting these needs during a panel discussion at this past week’s Mid-Atlantic Bio Conference in North Bethesda.

Food illness costs Americans more than $40 million per year, said Kara Cooper, a senior scientist with MRIGlobal’s Global Health and Security in Kansas City, Mo. Cooper’s nonprofit contract research organization works with both industry and government clients.

The U.S. imports 40 percent of its fruit, 20 percent of its vegetables and 80 percent of its seafood.

“We need research and tools to assess risks and deal with contamination as it occurs,” she said.

Current methods consist of taking swabs and sending them to labs for testing, which can take several days or even close to a week, said Ted Olsen, president and CEO of PathSensors in Baltimore.

Companies such as his are trying to provide tools to analyze pathogens in real time and provide data that can be evaluated on a regular basis, Olsen said. PathSensors provides a system that senses pathogens via an aerosol collector and identifies them.

Instead of a situation in which a chicken farm might swab an area and send out samples two weeks before processing the birds, companies should look toward offering a system that can analyze the area the day of processing, Olsen said.

“We’re looking for something to allow detection in a single day,” said Thomas S. Hammack, acting director of the Food and Drug Adminstration’s division of microbiology in Silver Spring.

Many of the perishable foods people enjoy have short shelf lives and cannot wait for several days between testing and results. Hammack also said his administration would like to see technology that helps rule out false positives during testing.

Another challenge in the food safety industry is the ever-evolving strains of bacteria, said Douglas White, CEO of OpGen in Gaithersburg.

White pointed out many strains already are mutating to resist current methods of treatment, which opens up new opportunities for discovery.

“The goal is to reduce the time it takes to find the source and prevent further outbreak,” he said, adding this can be difficult when sorting through the “enormous” amount of pathogen data available.

Greater infrastructure is required to handle all of information and make it more easily accessible, White said.

OpGen is a DNA analysis company that focuses on microbiology analysis, which is effective for tracking contaminated food outbreaks, White said.

At the University of Maryland, College Park, the International Food Safety Training Laboratory is doing its own part to standardize food safety procedures.

The challenge is coming up with testing methods that can be used in areas with limited resources, said Janie Dubois, manager of the laboratory. She was referring to developing countries that might not have any food safety systems.

Dubois’ lab trains both U.S. and international food analysts in best practices for food safety and testing.

“Food safety gets more complicated as we increase the distance food travels,” she said. “We have to think how it affects the communities when they realize they have a contaminated crop that now nobody can use.”

Read original post here: http://www.gazette.net/article/20121005/NEWS/710059716/-1/food-safety-a-growing-sector-for-maryland-biotechs&template=gazette

Enhancing Food Safety: EU adopts list of approved flavouring substances

Brussels. Flavouring substances in food will become even safer and more transparent thanks to two pieces of legislation adopted today by the European Commission. Only those flavouring substances featuring on the approved lists will be permitted for use by the food industry.
Used to alter the taste and/or odour of food, flavourings substances have a long history of safe use in a wide variety of foods, such as soft drinks, confectionery, cereals, cakes and yoghurts, and have now been evaluated at EU level.
"Thanks to on-going efforts by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and other scientific bodies, this legislation on flavouring substances will vastly improve the transparency of information to citizens and industry alike. It will be easier for all concerned to know exactly which flavouring substances can be used in food." said John Dalli Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner.

These two new pieces of legislation will clarify and harmonise the use of flavouring substances within the single market:
•The first Regulation1 provides for a new EU wide list of flavouring substances which can be used in food and will apply from 22 April 2013, giving time for the EU food industry to adapt to the new rules. All flavouring substances not in the list will be prohibited after a phasing out period of 18 months.
•The second Regulation2 concerns transitional measures for other flavourings such as flavourings made from non-food sources and will apply from 22 October 2012.
The new list includes over 2,100 authorised flavouring substances. A further 400 will remain on the market until EFSA concludes its evaluation. These have been used for a long time and have already been assessed as safe by other scientific bodies.
Increased Transparency
Transparency and clarity of information is one of the main benefits of the new rules. The authorised uses of flavouring substances will be listed according to the category of food to which they may be added. Transparency will be improved as the list will also be available in an on-line database allowing consumers, food businesses and national food control authorities to easily identify which flavouring substances are authorised in food.

Conditions for authorising flavouring substances

A flavouring substance may only be authorised if its use meets the following conditions:

•it does not, on the basis of the available scientific evidence, pose risks to the health of the consumer at the level of the proposed use;

•its use does not mislead the consumer.

Read more: http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n288809

Ga. conducting food inspections based on risk

ATLANTA (AP) — The greater the risk a food product could be contaminated, the more often the manufacturer will be inspected under a new system being established in Georgia.

Georgia is making the shift after other states began focusing their inspectors' work based on the likelihood that food products could be contaminated with pathogens. While the decision has been praised by consumer safety advocates, it also underlines a fundamental problem: Overworked state food inspectors could not keep pace with the old goal — one routine inspection every six months.

"We feel like it's really important because ... what you do is put your resources toward where your greatest exposure is, and I think it helps you do a better job," Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black said.

An audit released this summer found that as of May 2011, the state Department of Agriculture had conducted one inspection every six months for 51 percent of the state's roughly 740 licensed food processing facilities. The rest had been inspected within the past year or longer. That audit caught Black's department in the middle of a transition, a fact that the auditors acknowledged. Earlier that year, Black's department began discussing how it could implement a model that focused inspections based on risk.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration already adopted risk-based inspections as part of its recommended standards, and many states have made the transition.

"The idea is you want to focus your resources on the person preparing the sushi, not the one who has the processed food in a package," said Doug Farquhar, the program director for environmental health at the National Conference of State Legislatures. "Georgia is kind of bringing itself up to speed."

Food safety officials across the country constantly contend with resource issues. The number of inspectors examining food manufacturers has grown from three to seven staffers since a 2009 salmonella outbreak traced to a Georgia peanut processing plant killed nine people. Black said he is using federal grant money to employ a compliance officer and intends to shield the food safety inspectors from statewide budget cuts required by Gov. Nathan Deal.

Even so, it remains unclear whether seven inspectors will be enough to fully staff the program.

In the past, inspectors would attempt to review a massive peanut processing plant, for example, in a half day or even less, said Michael Doyle, the director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia. Targeted inspections could help make better use of an inspector's time.

"And the question is, is it better to do a thorough audit and maybe do it once a year than to do these cursory audits just to meet the goal of doing it twice a year?" said Doyle, who added that he prefers a more intense audit.

As state food inspectors review facilities, they are now gathering information used to gauge a manufacturer's risk. That process should be finished within a year, said Oscar Garrison, director of the food safety division with the state Department of Agriculture.

While department officials are still tweaking guidelines, the number of inspections could vary widely. Garrison estimated that a high-risk producer could get a quarterly inspection, while very small establishments with clean records could go two years without seeing an inspector.

To define a plant's risk, state officials examine several variables. Some products are inherently less prone to contamination than others. For example, pre-washed, ready-to-eat fruits and vegetables are more likely to be contaminated than baked crackers. The risk of a major outbreak for a firm that sells its products locally is less than for a large operation that ships food across the country.

Food products going to vulnerable populations, such as baby formula for infants or food destined for the elderly in nursing homes, will generally get more scrutiny than products destined for the general population, Garrison said.

How the food is produced also factors into the risk assessment. Firms that have robust food safety plans, aggressively test their food ingredients and products and monitor their suppliers are viewed as less prone to food outbreaks than manufacturers who are more lax.

Department officials are weighing those variables as they inspect plants. For example, an inspector noted in a recent review that a firm making ready-to-eat deli-cooked vegetables and casseroles should be considered high-risk since consumers would only warm, not thoroughly cook, the final product.

Garrison said the risk profiles developed by his department are not set in stone. A manufacturer rated as low-risk could find itself under stepped-up scrutiny if inspectors cite if for violations or if testing reveals contamination.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Ga-conducting-food-inspections-based-on-risk-3902604.php#ixzz27ppq2NYg

Biggest Food Safety Disasters 2012: Peanut Butter, Sushi, Cantaloupe And More

If there's something we tend to take for granted, it's food safety. We hardly expect the bag of lettuce we buy at the supermarket, or the jar of peanut butter or the cantaloupe, to harm us. But 2012 has shown us that as consumers it pays to be vigilant -- mass production often lends itself to facilities that have proved a fertile breeding ground for harmful pathogens like salmonella, e. coli and listeria. Still, even small producers often find themselves caught up in recalls. Among the most dangerous recalls this year was one involving cantaloupes, which sickened upwards of 150 people and killed two. Another involving a tainted tuna product sickened 116 and sparked a debate about "tuna scrape." "Pink slime" was another hot topic in recent months, raising concerns and questions from health experts and other members of the food community. The best way to protect yourself is to stay informed. With that in mind, click through the below gallery of 2012's biggest food safety disasters.
Read more here;
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/26/food-safety-disasters-2012_n_1914510.html

Illumina Gets $17M Contract from FDA for Food Safety Tools

By a GenomeWeb staff reporter

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Illumina today said that it has received a $17 million contract from the US Food and Drug Administration to provide sequencing systems and reagents for food safety testing.

Under the five-year contract, Illumina will supply its MiSeq systems and reagents for performing whole-genome analysis on produce and produce-related environmental Salmonella and shigatoxigenic E. coli isolates.

Illumina said in a statement that the FDA already has several MiSeq systems deployed in its labs and is building its existing capacity as part of a proof-of-concept initiative. In addition, it said in the short-term the FDA is looking to collect data that is crucial to source-tracking Salmonella that may be involved in future produce-related outbreaks.

Sequence data collected at the FDA labs will be uploaded in real-time to the National Center for Biotechnology Information curated database and will provide early proof of concept for using whole-genome sequencing for pathogen detection, identification and traceback, said Illumina.

Food safety

Food safety is a scientific discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potentially severe health hazards.

Food can transmit disease from person to person as well as serve as a growth medium for bacteria that can cause food poisoning. Debates on genetic food safety include such issues as impact of genetically modified food on health of further generations and genetic pollution of environment, which can destroy natural biological diversity. In developed countries there are intricate standards for food preparation, whereas in lesser developed countries the main issue is simply the availability of adequate safe water, which is usually a critical item. In theory food poisoning is 100% preventable. The five key principles of food hygiene, according to WHO, are:

1. Prevent contaminating food with pathogens spreading from people, pets, and pests.
2. Separate raw and cooked foods to prevent contaminating the cooked foods.
3. Cook foods for the appropriate length of time and at the appropriate temperature to kill pathogens.
4. Store food at the proper temperature.
5. Do use safe water and cooked materials.

ISO 22000

ISO 22000 is a standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization dealing with food safety. This is a general derivative of ISO 9000. ISO 22000 standard: The ISO 22000 international standard specifies the requirements for a food safety management system that involves interactive communication, system management, prerequisite programs, HACCPprinciples.

Incidence

A 2003 World Health Organization (WHO) report concluded that about 30% of reported food poisoning outbreaks in the WHO European Region occur in private homes. According to the WHOand CDC, in the USA alone, annually, there are 76 million cases of foodborne illness leading to 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths.

Manufacturing control

HACCP guidelines

The UK Food Standards Agency publishes recommendations as part of its Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) programme. The relevant guidelines state that:

"Cooking food until the CORE TEMPERATURE is 75 °C or above will ensure that harmful bacteria are destroyed.
However, lower cooking temperatures are acceptable provided that the CORE TEMPERATURE is maintained for a specified period of time as follows :

• 60 °C for a minimum of 45 minutes
• 65 °C for a minimum of 10 minutes
• 70 °C for a minimum of 2 minutes"

Previous guidance from a leaflet produced by the UK Department Of Health “Handling Cooked Meats Safely A Ten Point Plan” also allowed for:

• "75 °C for a minimum of 30 seconds
• 80 °C for a minimum of 6 seconds"

Note that recommended cooking conditions are only appropriate if initial bacterial numbers in the uncooked food are small. Cooking does not overcome poor hygiene.

read more here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_safety

USDA Challenges Consumers to Test Their Back to School Food Safety Smarts

Heading back to school means getting into a new routine. As moms and dads pack lunches for their kids before a busy day of class and extra-curricular activities, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) encourages families to update their food safety routine and take precautions that will help prevent food poisoning in America's young students.

"Preventing foodborne illness is part of USDA's public health mission, but one in six Americans is still expected to get sick from the food they eat this year," Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Elisabeth Hagen said. "Back to school time provides an excellent opportunity for the whole family to brush up on food safety steps."

When it comes to food safety, are you an A+ student? This true or false quiz is based on real calls to USDA's Meat and Poultry Hotline, 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854). The hotline is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is staffed by specialists who can answer consumers' questions about safely handling, cooking and storing food.

True or False: To effectively destroy germs on my hands, I need to wash them for 20 seconds.

True. Wash hands before and after handling food with soap and running water by rubbing hands together vigorously for at least 20 seconds. The mechanical action of rubbing your hands creates friction that helps dislodge bacteria and viruses. Warm or hot water is preferable to cold water because it helps dissolve fats and foods, aiding in microbe removal and the deactivation of pathogens. If soapy water is not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can reduce the number of germs on hands in some situations, but sanitizers do not eliminate all types of germs, including viruses.

True or False: The "let stand" step of microwave meal instructions is only there so I don't burn myself.

False. If the food label says, "Let stand for x minutes after cooking," do not skimp on the standing time. Food continues to generate heat after the microwave is turned off, so letting your microwaved food sit for a few minutes actually helps your food cook more. That extra minute or two could mean the difference between a delicious meal and food poisoning. After waiting a few minutes, check the food with a food thermometer to make sure it is 165 °F or above.

True or False: I need to put some sort of cold source in my lunchbox.

True. Harmful bacteria multiply rapidly between 40 and 140 °F, so perishable food transported without an ice source will not stay safe long. Insulated, soft-sided lunch boxes or bags are best for keeping food cold, but pack at least two ice sources with perishable food in any type of lunch bag or box you use. You can use two frozen gel packs that are 5-by-3 inches or larger, or combine a frozen gel pack with a frozen juice box. When packing your bag lunch, place the ice sources above and below the perishable food items to keep them cold. If there is a refrigerator available at work or school, store perishable items there upon arrival. If you place your insulated bag in the refrigerator, leave the lid or bag open so that cold air can keep the food cold.

Some food is safe without a cold source. Items that do not require refrigeration include whole fruits and vegetables, hard cheese, canned meat and fish, chips, breads, crackers, peanut butter, jelly, mustard and pickles.

True or False: As long as it isn't topped with chicken or sausage, leftover pizza is safe to eat if unrefrigerated overnight.

False. Bacteria grow readily in carbohydrate-rich, cooked foods. While uncooked vegetables are safe to store at room temperature in their raw state, cooked foods such as casseroles, rice, pasta and pizza—whether or not the dish contains meat or poultry—must be refrigerated within two hours after cooking. The possibility of bacterial growth increases after cooking, because the drop in temperature allows bacteria to thrive. If a food has been left between 40 and 140 °F for more than two hours, discard it, even though it may look and smell okay. The kinds of bacteria that cause food poisoning do not affect the look, smell, or taste of food. Put leftover pizza in the refrigerator right away, and it will be safe to eat for three to four days.

Read more here:

http://www.thebaynet.com/news/index.cfm/fa/viewstory/story_ID/29360

September is National Food Safety Education Month(SM) (NFSEM)

ATLANTA, Sept. 7, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Celebrate September as National Food SafetyEducation Month^® (NFSEM). As the international trade association for the manufacturers of mayonnaise, salad dressingsand condiment sauces and industry suppliers, the Association for Dressings & Sauces (ADS) provides information about the safety of commercial dressing and sauce products.

For nearly 70 years, members of the scientific and regulatory communities have conductedresearch and published articles documenting the safety of commercially prepared dressings and sauces, including mayonnaise.

Commercially prepared mayonnaise and mayonnaise-type dressings contain pasteurized eggs. These products are prepared under strict quality control guidelines, in compliance with the Food and Drug Administration's good manufacturing practices. Additional ingredients such as vinegar and lemon juice create a high-acid environment that slows or even stops bacterial growth. Commercial mayonnaise is perfectly safe when stored at room temperature; however, refrigeration ensures the mayonnaise maintains its fresh flavor for a longer period of time.  

The ADS website offers informational resources about food safety:

• Food Safety Facts: Mayonnaise & Dressings, details the long-standing safety record of commercial products.
• Make Mine Mayonnaise!, contains information to educate consumers about the safety and goodness of mayonnaise.

With all foods, the inadvertent introduction of pathogens must be avoided. Consumers, restaurant and foodservice distributors and operators must adhere to sanitary food handling practices in dealing with all foods to ensure safety. These recommendations are consistent with the principles highlighted in the curriculum for 2012 National Food Safety Education Month, "Cross-Contamination," which is based on the ServSafe^® food safety training and certification program.

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http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/07/4797553/september-is-national-food-safety.html

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Food safety law is being delayed

THE FOOD AND DRUG Administration is recalling cantaloupes grown in southern Indiana that may have been a source of a salmonella outbreak that has led to two deaths in Kentucky and sent 62 people to hospitals. Last year, cantaloupes grown in Colorado contaminated with listeria killed 33 people and sickened 147. When peanut products werecontaminated with salmonella in early 2009, one father fretted about his young daughter eating a peanut butter sandwich. “No parent should have to worry that their child is going to get sick from their lunch,” he said.

That father was President Obama. In his weekly radio address March 14, 2009, he also declared, “There are certain things only a government can do. And one of those things is ensuring that the foods we eat, and the medicines we take, are safe and don’t cause us harm.” In 2011, the president signed the Food Safety Modernization Act, the most ambitious overhaul of the nation’s food safety system since the 1930s, which passed Congress with broad bipartisan support and industry backing.

Food Safety Advocates to USDA: Require Labeling for Tenderized Meat

A group of food safety advocates is calling on the Obama Administration to make good on its proposal to require labeling for mechanically tenderized meat.

In a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Friday, the Safe Food Coalition called on the agency to require that mechanically tenderized meat bear a label that includes instructions on how to safely cook this meat.

In the past, USDA has differentiated mechanically tenderized steaks--which have been probed with a series of small metal blades or needles--from "intact" steaks, which it says need only be cooked to 145 degrees F because bacteria does not penetrate into the middle of intact cuts. Mechanically tenderized cuts, however, should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F, like ground beef, to allow for the fact that bacteria may have penetrated further into the meat. 

In January of 1999, USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service listed mechanically tenderized meat as a non-intact meat in its policy on beef products at risk of contamination with E. coli O157:H7. 

"Pathogens may be introduced below the surface of these products as a result of the processes by which they are made," said the agency. 

According to research from Kansas State University, approximately 3 to 4 percent of E. coli bacteria can be carried from the surface of contaminated meat to the inside of the beef product. 

However, the agency does not currently require a label on tenderized steaks indicating that they should be cooked to a higher temperature.

"Without a label to identify mechanically treated meat products, along with information to help mitigate the risk, the unsuspecting purchasers of these products - whether they are restaurant cooks or consumers - will have no idea that the product that they have selected needs additional protective handling and preparation," says the Safe Food Coalition letter, signed by member groups. 

In March of this year, USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) submitted a rule to the federal Office of Management and Budget suggesting that "raw, needle or blade, mechanically tenderized, meat and poultry products be labeled to indicate that they are 'mechanically tenderized.' It goes on to propose that tenderized meat labels "include cooking instructions that have been validated to ensure adequate pathogen destruction."

Mechanically tenderized beef products were implicated in at least 6 E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks between 2003 and 2009. The latest - in December of 2009 - sickened at least 21 people in 16 states. 

The American Meat Institute says that tenderization is not necessarily what led to contamination in these outbreaks, and that evidence shows mechanically tenderized steaks are no riskier than intact ones.

In February of 2010, AMI said it had reviewed outbreaks linked to tenderized meat and determined that all meat implicated in these outbreaks had been further altered beyond tenderization.

"From this review AMI has determined that all of the recalls due to outbreaks were related to the consumption of marinated or enhanced steak products," said AMI Vice President of Food Safety and Inspection Services Scott Goltry.

"Because blade-tenderized steaks have been found to be comparable in safety, we don't believe that special labeling declaring the mechanical tenderization process will provide meaningful or actionable information to consumers," said the American Meat Institute in 2009 in response to calls for mandatory labeling of tenderized steaks. 

Dr. Richard Raymond, who was Undersecretary for Food Safety at USDA from 2005-2008, says the idea of requiring a label on mechanically tenderized meat came up in internal meetings at FSIS while he was in office, but that he decided against it given the small number of illnesses that had been linked to these meats at the time and the potential damage it could do to the industry.  

"I felt the risk was not significant enough to require a labeling process," Raymond told Food Safety News. 

"In theory, it is absolutely possible that you can drive bacteria into the inner part of the steak. In actuality, there haven't been that many illnesses linked to blade-tenderized steaks," says Raymond. 

"If you choose to put it on the label people are going to say, 'Well what does that mean?' You have to have an explanation if you say it's been mechanically tenderized," he says. "A lot of people wouldn't buy a steak that had that label on it because they're not going to cook them well-done. It's like putting the radura symbol on meat that's been irradiated. It's scary. It will make people think the product is less reliable." 

Current Undersecretary for Food Safety Dr. Elizabeth Hagen pushed for acceptance of the proposal to label mechanically tenderized meats in front of the House Appropriations committee in March. 

"We do believe (mechanically tenderized meats) should be labeled. This is important information for consumers to have."

The rule is still under review at OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. 

BY GRETCHEN GOETZ

GMOs: Food Science Grows Up In Europe As America Goes Backwards

For more than a decade, Europe has been as anti-science as can be imagined regarding genetically modified organisms —  consumer crops that have had their genetic code altered in order to make them easier to farm. 

Environmental activists have frequently responded to GM crop trials by vandalizing or destroying them, while scare stories about “Frankenfoods” have been a regular staple of the British media diet. But two developments in the last month show that Europe may be joining the science community again, while California prepares to leave it:

1)  The European Food and Safety Authority rejected a French ban of genetically modified corn,  saying that there was evidence of harm to humans, animals, or the environment.

2) When the anti-science hippies at “Take the Flour Back” attempted to vandalize a taxpayer funded GM wheat trial in Rothamsted, England, media reporting and comment was neutral or positive about the experiments or actively hostile to the protesters—a far cry from the days of ‘Frankenfood’ headlines.

Death of “Frankenfood” By Jeremy Stahl, Slate.com

FOOD SAFETY GUIDES FOR GROUPS MOST VULNERABLE TO FOODBORNE ILLNESS NOW AVAILABLE

USDA and FDA partner on food safety booklets to help those with compromised immune systems prevent food borne illness 

August 5, 2012  (Washington) —The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have partnered to create six booklets with food safety advice for populations that are most susceptible to food borne illness. The booklets in this “at-risk series” are tailored to help older adults, transplant recipients, pregnant women, and people with cancer, diabetes or HIV/AIDS reduce their risk for food borne illness.

“These booklets are a much needed resource for consumers who are at increased risk of getting sick from food,” said USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Elisabeth Hagen. “The clear, understandable information in these booklets will help at-risk individuals feel confident about the safety of foods they prepare and eat. The booklets are also helpful to physicians and other health care providers for educating their at-risk patients about food borne illnesses.”

Each of the booklets contains 24 pages of practical guidance on how to prevent food borne illness. The information is presented in easy-to-read charts, illustrated how-to’s, and straightforward descriptions of why each group is at higher risk for food borne illness and symptoms that may mean trouble. The booklets contain three tear-out cards with quick-reference tips for grocery shopping, cooking to the right temperature, and eating at restaurants for those times when taking along the entire booklet would be impractical.  

“Everyone, from farmers to food manufacturers to food preparers in the home, has a role in food safety,” said FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods Michael Taylor.  “It is important that consumers, particularly those who are at higher risk of foodborne illness, have information they can use to do their part in preventing illness by properly selecting and preparing foods.”

While booklets on five of these topics have been previously produced in 2006, the two agencies this year created a sixth booklet for pregnant women, who are at particular risk for the illness listeriosis. The six new booklets list food safety resources, such as www.foodsafety.gov, that have been made available since the earlier copies were printed. They also include revised safe cooking temperatures for meat and poultry: 145 °F for whole cuts of meat, followed by a three-minute rest time; 160 °F for ground meats; and 165 °F for all poultry.

FSIS and FDA have mailed copies of the booklets to physicians around the country who treat patients in any of these six categories, and the booklets are available to the public free of charge. Additionally, the booklets are downloadable in PDF format at www.foodsafety.gov/poisoning/risk/index.html. To order booklets for your home, office, or organization, call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) weekdays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. ET, or email requests to fsis.outreach@usda.gov. 

Consumers with food safety questions are encouraged to “Ask Karen,” the FSIS virtual representative available 24 hours a day at www.AskKaren.gov or via smartphone at m.askkaren.gov. “Ask Karen” live chat services are available in English and Spanish weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET.

As part of a multi-faceted approach to prevent foodborne illness, the USDA and the FDA joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Ad Council to launch Food Safe Families, a consumer food safety education campaign. It is the first joint public service campaign to empower families to further reduce their risk of food borne illness at home by checking their key food safety steps: clean, separate, cook, and chill. For more information, go to www.foodsafety.gov.

Today's action is in addition to other significant public health measures FSIS has put in place during President Barack Obama's Administration to date to safeguard the food supply, prevent food borne illness, and improve consumers' knowledge about the food they eat. These initiatives support the three core principles developed by the President's Food Safety Working Group: prioritizing prevention; strengthening surveillance and enforcement; and improving response and recovery. Some of these actions include:

• Test-and-hold policy that will significantly reduce consumer exposure to unsafe meat products, should the policy become final, because products cannot be released into commerce until Agency test results for dangerous contaminants are known.
• Labeling requirements that provide better information to consumers about their food by requiring nutrition information for single-ingredient raw meat and poultry products and ground or chopped products.
• Public Health Information System, a modernized, comprehensive database with information on public health trends and food safety violations at the nearly 6,100 plants FSIS regulates.
• Performance standards for poultry establishments for continued reductions in the occurrence of pathogens. After two years of enforcing the new standards, FSIS estimates that approximately 5,000 illnesses will be prevented each year under the new Campylobacter standards, and approximately 20,000 illnesses will be prevented under the revised Salmonella standards each year.  

Playing chicken on food safety?

USDA DEFENDS EFFORTS TO SPEED UP POULTRY SLAUGHTER LINES AND REPLACE MOST FEDERAL INSPECTORS WITH PLANT WORKERS

That's how long a federal inspector will have to examine slaughtered chickens for contaminants and disease under new rules proposed by the federal government.

The proposal would speed up production lines as much as 25 percent. It also would pull most federal inspectors off the lines and replace them with plant workers.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says its proposal is a win-win-win that modernizes food inspection while saving money for taxpayers and the poultry industry.

The nation's most recognized food safety and consumer groups, however, say the plan would leave gaping holes in oversight that will endanger the nation's food supply, not to mention create a conflict of interest for poultry plants. They warn that Americans, who eat about 80 pounds of poultry a year, will be at greater risk of getting a side serving of fecal contamination or cancerous tumors with their chicken.

"I went out and bought a food processor so we could make more vegetarian meals," said Felicia Nestor, a food safety advocate and a consultant with the Government Accountability Project. "If the changes go into effect, my husband and I will no longer buy chicken."

The USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service, which oversees poultry plants, believes the changes would "ensure and even enhance the safety of the poultry supply by focusing our inspectors' efforts on activities more directly tied to improving food safety," FSIS spokesman Dirk Fillpot said in a statement.

The agency says it wants inspectors to focus on issues that pose the greatest health risks to the public.

Georgia produces more chickens for meat consumption — 1.3 billion a year — than any other state, so the USDA's proposed changes are critically important here. The agency has not said when it will make its final decision on the proposal. The new system would be voluntary, though FSIS expects all but the smallest poultry plants to opt in. Advocates say that's because the other option would prohibit those plants from remaining competitive in the industry. The biggest changes would:

- Use workers in chicken and turkey plants to replace all but one federal inspector on the conveyor belt, where bad birds are removed from the production line. (Currently, chicken plants have as many as four federal inspectors on their lines.)

- Let those plants decide how much training their workers receive in identifying diseased or defected birds.

- Enable plants to speed up their slaughter lines so that the sole federal inspector, stationed at the end of the line, would be required to view up to 175 birds per minute. The maximum speed now is 140 per minute, but that workload is divided among four inspectors so that it averages out at 35 per minute for each inspector.

- Let poultry plants decide what dangerous bacteria they test carcasses for and how often they test, and no longer require plants to test for E. coli.

The government says the changes will save taxpayers more than $90 million over three years. But the big winner will be the poultry industry, which will save at least $256 million a year in production costs, the USDA has projected.

But at least one Georgia poultry plant owner isn't sold on the concept. Will Harris, owner of White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, said he likes having an unbiased third party closely examining each chicken that comes through his production line.

"I don't want to be the fox that's guarding the henhouse," said Harris, whose farm is about 75 miles south of Columbus. Harris also raises grass-fed cattle and sheep and is one of the few operations that handles its own slaughter on-site.

How it works now

Georgia's largest poultry plants are capable of slaughtering and processing hundreds of thousands of chickens in a day. On the production line, chickens are hung upside down by their feet in shackles, one next to another, and subjected to an electric shock that stuns them into unconsciousness. A razor-sharp blade then cuts the animals' jugular vein; other devices remove their feathers, heads, feet and internal organs.

As the chickens move down the line, as many as four federal inspectors are stationed to examine them. The line is timed so that birds pass in front of an inspector for about two seconds. The inspectors handle each carcass and peer inside its chest cavity, searching for defects such as disease, infection and fecal contamination; he or she also looks at the bird's internal organs for signs of disease. The inspector pulls the chicken off the line if any of those conditions is present.

A few times a month, other inspectors take small samples of birds and mail them to federal labs, where they are tested for bacteria such as salmonella and campylobacter.

The Food Safety Inspection Service says the new system would require poultry plants to take more responsibility for weeding out birds with diseases, infections and defects. These conditions include an infection of the blood called septicemia, which discolors the bird, and an infection called "inflammatory process," which can cause a hard yellow scab to form under a chicken's skin. Currently federal inspectors pull these birds off the line when they spot them; the new rules would largely leave that to plant employees.

In redirecting its inspectors from production lines, FSIS says, more inspectors will be freed up to focus on issues that affect public health, such as salmonella and campylobacter. Yet, under the proposed system, FSIS would not increase testing for those pathogens.

Advocates say they're not opposed to modernizing poultry inspection and requiring plants to take more ownership of their product. They say, however, that the agency's proposal goes far beyond that, giving too much control and freedom to poultry plants while also relaxing the government's oversight.

In 1999, FSIS created a pilot program that allowed 20 chicken plants and five turkey plants to play by a different set of rules. They could run their slaughter lines at faster speeds. They swapped most government inspectors on the lines with their own plant workers. Two plants in that pilot program are in Georgia, one in Gainesville, one in Claxton.

The program is the foundation for the proposed changes. And FSIS documents portray it as an overwhelming success. The agency says the rates of fecal contamination — a major vehicle for spreading bacteria — are lower in the pilot plants. The agency also says the rates of salmonella compare favorably.

Opponents of the proposal say FSIS is distorting the facts on both issues. They cite an audit by the Government Accountability Office in December 2001, which concluded that results from the program would be "unreliable."

The audit also noted that citations for fecal contamination skyrocketed in poultry plants' first year in the pilot program.

Critics say FSIS responded by gaming the system. They say the agency allowed the pilot plants to rearrange the production line in a way that largely prevented inspectors from writing citations for fecal contamination.

As a result, the critics say, the citations plummeted. The government says its fecal contamination rates in pilot plants are about half those of other plants'.

"So all those [citations] that were getting written up early on under the [pilot] program because inspectors were finding a lot of fecal, all of a sudden, they all go away," Nestor said. She is the food-safety consultant to the Government Accountability Project, a Washington group that supports government and corporate whistleblowers.

Asked for a response, FSIS did not address the alleged connection between the citations and the relocation of the employee stations. The agency would not agree to an interview with the AJC for this article but answered some of the newspaper's questions by email.

Food safety advocates also say that the agency's statistics on salmonella rates in pilot plants are unimpressive.

Salmonella rates were actually lower in 2009 and 2010 in nonpilot comparison plants than the pilot plants, according to a 2011 evaluation of the pilot program.