By Heather Little-White, Ph.D,
Food, Nutrition & Lifestyle Consultant IMAGINE a chicken salad sandwich sitting on your kitchen counter for hours and the amount of microbes doing the "butterfly" dance in that sandwich!
Or actually, like most people you probably don't imagine.
So you bite into the sandwich and think, "yummy". The problem comes later when you are writhing in pain because you have come down with a foodborne illness, having eaten the contaminated sandwich.
Do you really think about the safety of the foods you eat? Under what conditions do you prepare foods in your kitchen?
While you may not eat out often, you shouldn't feel that you are excluded from being sick by food poisoning because it could happen through foods prepared in your own kitchen.
Foodborne illnesses occur when contaminated food is eaten. The nature of food and the extent to which it is handled create opportunities for the meals you prepare at home to be contaminated. Most cases are caused by unsafe temperatures, food handled by infected persons who practice poor personal hygiene and cross contamination.
Some people are especially susceptible to foodborne illnesses -- young children, the elderly, pregnant or lactating women or persons with an impaired immune system caused by AIDS, cancer and other diseases. Foodborne illness should not be taken lightly because it can cause serious reactions and even death.
How is food contaminated?
It can happen anywhere between the farm and your kitchen table. It is therefore important to
buy from safe and wholesome sources
wash produce carefully and
clean meats well before using.
Some of the common sources of contamination are soil, air, water, animal, rodents and insects, ingredients, surfaces used for food preparation and packaging materials.
Contamination is the presence of substances or conditions in foods that are harmful to humans. The common agents are bacteria, viruses, parasites and chemicals.
Potentially hazardous foods (PHF), by their nature, present a greater opportunity for micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses and parasites to grow. As you try to create new dishes to keep your family menu exciting, bear in mind that you may be working with potentially hazardous foods. Examples of PHF, most of which are critical to good nutrition, are poultry, eggs, dairy products, raw milk, fish, shell fish and red meats. Others include
The general symptoms of foodborne illness are diarrhoea, fever, abdominal pain, headache and vomiting. Common outbreaks of foodborne illnesses are caused by:
salmonella from raw poultry, raw meats, eggs, milk and other dairy products
E. coli from undercooked hamburger, unpastuerized apple cider and lettuce (imported)
hepatitis A from foods prepared with human contact and contaminated water
Control time and temperature
Time and temperature must be controlled in food prepartion. Danger zone temperatures are 5C and 60C (41F to 140F). Foods should not be held at these temperatures for more than three hours.
Keep things clean and sanitary
There is a distinction cleaning is removal of visible soil from the surfaces of equipment and utensils while sanitation is being hygienic to reduce the number of disease-causing microbes to acceptable public health levels. Sanitizes are used for this process but boiling water is also effective.
