Food Safety- Government

[16Adams]

With the end of summer and Holidays approaching Here's a link to food safety awareness.

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safe...ation/food-safety-basics/danger-zone-40f-140f

Mom: we left food out all day and no one ever got sick
Me: Mom little brother always threw up in the car on the way home. The rest of us always at least bad stomach aches
Mom: y'all were fine you just ate too much hen & noodles.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

 

[Mike Twangzer]

No offense ... but ... that's funny ... but oh so true ...

 

[thirdeye]

This chart shows how fast the baddies will multiply at various temps, and when they begin to die off.

 

[Juggy D Beerman]

With the end of summer and Holidays approaching Here's a link to food safety awareness.


Mom: we left food out all day and no one ever got sick
Me: Mom little brother always threw up in the car on the way home. The rest of us always at least bad stomach aches
Mom: y'all were fine you just ate too much hen & noodles.

Actually, there is a little bit of truth in that statement. Years ago when we were not nearly as food safety conscious as were are now, due to the exposure we had to food borne pathogens, our immune systems offered a little more protection than what we possess now.



I still remember that can of bacon grease on my mom's stove. I cannot recall that can ever being emptied out as it was always being replenished with more bacon grease. Who knows how old that grease at the bottom of the can was. Dad used to smoke turkeys on his Atlanta Stove Works Cue-Cart and would brag about taking 6 to 8 hours to slow cook them. I don't recall ever getting sick from food as a child. By no means am I implying that we should go back to our old ways.



Food safety is a serious issue. There are an estimated 48 million cases of food borne illnesses in this country every year. The word estimate is used because most cases go unreported as the minor symptoms such as stomach cramps or upset stomach as well as diarrhea or vomiting are often blamed on stomach flu and not reported to the health department as food poisoning. Symptoms can show up in six hours (or less) or take as long as three weeks. Young children, older adults and people who are immunocompromised are more susceptible to food poisoning than healthy adults. Something that is not under reported about food poisoning is the number of deaths in the US every year and that number is 3,000.



Another thing about food poisoning is that if you have had a case of getting sick from something you eat is this. Whatever you ate that caused you to regurgitate will leave a taste so bad in your mouth it will your remind your taste bud "memories" to avoid that product for years. There was a ten year period in my life where I refused to eat chicken.
I got food poisoning on a canoe trip from cold cooked chicken that had come in contact with the water in the cooler. The cooler also stored beverages. I like to have an adult beverage or three when I float. When I would grab a beer, my hands had been in river water and the cooler water was compromised by my hands that had been in water that was not fit to drink.



I learned somethings from that bad experience. First of all, if I am storing ready to eat food in a cooler, that cooler is thoroughly cleaned with bleach water and rinsed before using. All foods are sealed in leak proof containers. Water is not allowed to accumulate in the cooler. This cooler is used for ready to eat food only. Beverages have their own cooler as does food that is not cooked. These coolers are sanitized and rinsed as well before using. Wash your hands before getting foods out of the cooler. If there is water in the cooler and your place your dirty hands in the cooler, you are essentially washing your hands in cooler and leaving what germs and dirt you have on them behind in the cooler. I can testify to this!



I could go on with some more food safety issues, but this post is long enough.........


Lager,


Juggy

 

[Whisky]

(To my knowledge) I've only been sick from food once in my life, and it was not of my own doing. Sushi in Mexico.
With that said, I feel this whole food safety thing is far overblown. Based on my own experiences, I should be dead according to the US government.

People nowadays are too soft (and judgemental) for my tastes.

Now, sicknesses from some of my other endeavors I do tread a little more carefully. I would not want trichnosis from bear meat, or beaver fever from a stream in the Mtns.

 

[Juggy D Beerman]

(To my knowledge) I've only been sick from food once in my life, and it was not of my own doing. Sushi in Mexico.
With that said, I feel this whole food safety thing is far overblown. Based on my own experiences, I should be dead according to the US government.

People nowadays are too soft (and judgemental) for my tastes.

Now, sicknesses from some of my other endeavors I do tread a little more carefully. I would not want trichnosis from bear meat, or beaver fever from a stream in the Mtns.

I do take food safety seriously. I have done a lot of catering and cooking for other people and to my knowledge, nobody has become ill because of my cooking. I would rather err on side of caution as all it takes is one person to become ill because of my cooking and my reputation is shot. It is one thing to ignore food safety recommendations for yourself. If you are cooking for others, I feel it is irresponsible to ignore these recommendations.



If you are healthy you do have a higher tolerance against food poisoning. Besides young and old people, and people who have compromised immune systems, women who are pregnant are more susceptible to food poisoning. When I cook for people, I ask if there is anyone who fits this category and also ask if anyone has any type of food allergy. I take added precautions when this is the case.


Back in the day, Mom would cook pork loin until the meat was completely white and dry. Back then hogs were raised on slop and garbage. Trichinosis was quite common in hogs and that is why Mom cooked the pork to a higher temperature than what is recommended for today's pork. That temperature is about 140F minimum. This temperature is also high enough that it kills trichinosis. Most of our retail pork today comes from factory farms that do not feed hogs slop and garbage. Trichinosis has all but been eradicated from the pork industry. These days most of the reported case of trichinosis come from bear that has been under-cooked. With that being said, I have served sliced pork loin that I cooked to 145F before slicing and served it. Some folks came to complain that the pork was not cooked all the way through because it was not cooked like mom used to cook it.


I like my steaks medium rare. According to USDA standards, medium rare temp is under-cooked. So I don't always agree with the government. I do cook burgers to 160F. But what I cook for myself is my business. If I am cooking for others, I try to follow food safety recommendations.



BTW, I don't drink from any mountain stream either. Besides the worries about beaver fever, to paraphrase WC Fields, "Don't drink the water. Fish do disgusting things in it!"


Lager,


Juggy

 

[Whisky]

I do agree it's a whole different game when cooking for money. I fully understand the precautions in a commercial setting, and protecting one's self against a lawsuit. It's unfortunate, but yet another sign of the times.