Keeping Fruits and Vegetables Safe to Eat

Posted on February 21, 2017 by cheryle

Here’s a quick food safety question for you: which of these foods needs to be refrigerated for best food safety?

Cut watermelon
Washed and cut leafy greens
Sliced tomatoes
Freshly-cut cantaloupe cubes
Fruit salad

If you answered ALL of them, then you would be correct.

While many people don’t consider these items risky — after all, we often leave whole fruits and vegetables at room temperature for storage or to ripen further — once cut, all fruits and vegetables need to be refrigerated for safety.

Once a fruit or vegetable has been cut, the barrier to the outside world has been broken and the plant’s natural defenses have been compromised. This opens the food up to the environment. Plus, the moisture and natural sugars in fruits and vegetables help create a great place for bacteria to grow. Refrigerator temperatures, on the other hand, can help slow this development of bacteria.

Other foods that are quite often forgotten are things like smoothies and juices. These drinks should be consumed within two hours or refrigerated. Just like with cut fruit, with smoothies and juices you’ve disrupted the cell structure by blending or squeezing, which in turn makes them more susceptible to bacteria development.

Another way to help prevent bacteria growth on fruits and vegetables is to wash them carefully — even if you’re not going to eat the outside. There could be bacteria on the skin or rind and it can be dragged across the moist flesh of the food during your preparation. This additional bacteria on the inside of the food can just add to potential problems if left at room temperature.

Always remember to wash your hands, countertops, and cutting boards before and after cutting fresh fruits and vegetables. Take care to avoid cross-contamination with raw meats, poultry, and seafood.

The same caution should be taken with cooked fruits and vegetables. Once they’ve been heated, the cell structure has been broken down, making it an ideal setting for pathogen development.

Here’s the key take-home message: Once cut, cleaned, peeled, chopped, blended, or cooked, all fruits and vegetables should NOT be kept at room temperature for more than two hours. Refrigerate them for safety.

By Cheryle Jones Syracuse, MS, Professor Emeritus at The Ohio State University

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Keep Your Family Healthy in the New Year

Posted on December 20, 2016 by cheryle

Everywhere you look this time of year, someone is suggesting a resolution (or two or three) that you should keep. I’m going to chime in on this, too, with four really simple things that you can do to help keep your family healthy.

Invest in a good tip-sensitive digital-read food thermometer and use it! Cooking food to the recommended minimum internal temperature is the only sure way to destroy bacteria that can cause foodborne illnesses such as salmonella and E. coli.
Buy a couple of refrigerator and freezer thermometers and put them to use. Monitor these temperatures frequently. Your refrigerator should be below 40 degrees F and the freezer should be close to zero degrees F. These are also great tools to have in place when determining the safety of foods after a power outage. Proper refrigerator and freezer temps can extend the time food can be kept. Recommended leftover storage is 4 days at 40 degrees or below.
Get yourself several dishwasher-safe plastic cutting boards. Designating specific colors for different foods (such as yellow for raw chicken and green for fresh veggies) can help prevent cross-contamination. Change mats frequently during food prep and wash them thoroughly in the dishwasher.
Wash your hands frequently and encourage your family to do it, too! You probably don’t need to be reminded to wash after using the restroom, but also think about washing before cooking, before eating (even in a restaurant), after blowing your nose or sneezing and especially after changing diapers. Be extra diligent with handwashing when you are living with someone who is ill or in a confined area with a large group of people, such as a cruise ship or college dorm. Handwashing is the best way to prevent the transfer of norovirus.

Best wishes for a happy and food safe new year!

By Cheryle Jones Syracuse, MS, Professor Emeritus at The Ohio State University

Here’s a free printable handout that features these resolutions. How will you use your copy?

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E. Coli and Raw Flour: The Risks Are Real

Posted on October 18, 2016 by cheryle

Food safety experts have been preaching for years about the potential risk of licking the beaters or eating raw cookie dough. Their concern was the possibility of consuming harmful bacteria in raw eggs.

Now there’s another “red flag” related to raw batter and dough.

E. coli has been linked to flour.

We don’t usually think of flour as a “risky” food and it’s rare for someone to get sick from flour, but there is a chance and it has happened. Since flour is made from wheat that is obviously grown outdoors, it does have the potential to contain bacteria. A foodborne illness from flour usually doesn’t happen because flour is primarily used in foods that are cooked and bacteria are destroyed by heat.

The concern about the flour in raw cookie dough is a deadly bacteria called E. coli.

Typically, E. coli causes bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and dehydration. Most people recover within 3-4 days. While even that can be a long time when you’re the person who is sick, some strains of E.coli can be much more severe, resulting in a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Seniors, young children, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems are the most susceptible to any foodborne illness.

So, how do people get sick from eating flour? Raw dough and batters are the biggest opportunity. When using baking mixes and other flour-containing products, be sure to follow proper cooking temperatures and bake the food for the specified times.

When else might you run across an uncooked or undercooked raw flour product?

Think about other uses for flour such as thickening sauces—make sure you heat these foods completely.

Take extra care when it comes to children. Kids love to play with food like raw pizza dough, pie crust and cut-out cookies. Kids tend to put everything in their mouths, and in this case, that behavior could lead to an illness. There are also lots of recipes and ideas for craft projects, glue, or “clay” that could expose you and children to uncooked flour.

Cross contamination is also a possible problem. Flour dust spreads easily. Do you empty and completely clean the flour container when you buy new flour? Do you always wash your hands and work surfaces and utensils after handling flour?

I know I’m being a “spoilsport” and this is not something most of us usually think about… but maybe we should.

By Cheryle Jones Syracuse, MS, Professor Emeritus at The Ohio State University

Here’s a free printable food safety handout that outlines the highlights of this post!

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Doggy Bag Safety

Posted on August 30, 2016 by cheryle

I love “doggy bags.”

We don’t have a dog and most of the time those leftovers are for me.

With the size of many restaurant portions these days, it’s only wise to bring part of your food home for another meal… or possibly two. Whether you’re really taking the food home for the dog or yourself, it’s also important to keep it safe.

That’s where the “two hour rule” comes in.

Perishable food left at room temperature for more than two hours may become unsafe to eat. Remember, it becomes the “one hour rule” when temperatures are hotter than 90 degrees outside. Think about how hot the inside of a car can get. Bacteria grow very quickly at these temperatures.

If you’re planning on a movie or a little shopping after dinner, then it’s not safe to leave the food to sit in the car for that extra time. Bring a cooler with ice if you know you’re probably going to get a doggy bag… that’s a good thought whether you’re going straight home or not.

Once you get that doggy bag safely home, think about rewrapping those leftovers and putting them in the refrigerator as soon as possible. Those little foam boxes aren’t airtight and don’t do a great job of keeping the food moist and fresh.

The storage temperature of the leftovers is another key thing to think about. Refrigerators should be kept at 41 degrees or below.

I was recently impressed when my container of restaurant leftovers came with food safety instructions. I think this was smart of them, wanting to keep their customers safe. This container was also sealed a little tigher than most. As well as not spilling in the car on the way home, it helped to keep odors from other foods in the refrigerator from co-mingling with my leftover pasta. Their instructions for keeping the food safe were even a little more strict than I usually go by. But, less can be better in this instance.

Refrigerated food doesn’t keep forever. If you dine out a lot, then those little containers tend to multiply uneaten in the refrigerator. The best recommendation is to plan on eating those leftovers within three to four days of bringing them home. Remember that you can’t always see, taste, or smell the bacteria in food that may make you sick.

For safety’s sake, leftover food should be heated thoroughly before eating.

This means to heat it to 165 degrees F. The only way to make sure you’re doing that is to use a food thermometer. When heating in a microwave, stir during cooking and allow some standing time for the temperatures to unify.

While it may seem wasteful, keep in mind the old saying: “when in doubt… throw it out!” Wasting a little food is not worth the risk of a foodborne illness. If you can’t keep the food safe, then you may as well leave it in the restaurant in the first place.

By Cheryle Jones Syracuse, MS, Professor Emeritus at The Ohio State University

Using a Doggy Bag for Calorie Savings:

Provided that you keep your doggy bag food safe, you can save some serious calories by cutting your restaurant entree in half.

Here are some examples:

The Lasagna Classico at Olive Garden weighs in at 930 calories per plate, with 470 of those calories coming from fat. If you split the meal and saved half for a different day, storing the rest in a doggie bag for later, then you would only consume 465 calories in the restaurant, which is a much more reasonable portion than the original.
The Ultimate Bacon Burger at Chili’s is another contender for the doggie bag approach. If you split the burger in half and save half for another meal, you’ll save 515 calories! Now if you ate the whole thing, the grand total for this meal (without fries!) would be 1030 calories. Do you see how a doggie bag can make a huge difference in portion control?
An All-American Slam breakfast at Denny’s has 990 calories per plate. If you only ate half, you’d bring the portion size down to a much more reasonable 495 calories.

If you were to make all 3 of these changes, you would save 1,475 calories over the course of those meals!

Plus, by putting the rest of a given meal in a doggy bag and following food-safe methods, you will have a whole other meal at your disposal. This in turn makes your restaurant choices stretch farther on a budget.

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And here’s a doggy bag safety handout, just for you!

Food Safety When Taking Restaurant Meals Home: A Handout

Food Safety and the Slow Cooker

Posted on June 22, 2016 by cheryle

The food safety nerd in me just had another (as my husband would say) “food safety fit”.

This was the result of a post on Facebook, shared by a friend who thought it looked like a good idea: 31 slow cooker freezer meals.

Actually I like the idea. The post looked promising — planning meals ahead of time (wow, that’s a concept), buying all the ingredients for 31 meals at one time, doing all the chopping and prep work at one time and then freezing what was left. This isn’t really a new theory, but what makes this specific post or collection of recipes unique is that it the food is eventually cooked in the slow cooker.

What gave me the fit was the thought of the frozen food going directly into a slow cooker on low. The recipe author says that she looked up the food safety procedures and does not recommend putting frozen food directly into the slow cooker. Most of the recipes say to thaw in the refrigerator overnight before putting them in to cook.

There were lots of comments from folks who were either for or against this process.

Several mentioned that the USDA does not recommend the direct-from-freezer-to-slow-cooker process. Yeah!

Several others commented that they’ve been putting frozen meat in the slow cooker for years… and they’re still alive. (You know how I feel about that one).

The reality is that putting frozen food in a slow cooker provides an excellent opportunity for bacteria to grow as the food and the slow cooker make their way slowly through the temperature danger zone (TDZ) to a safe minimum internal temperature.

One reader commented that she took the bag of frozen food out of the freezer and threw it in the sink while getting dressed in the morning, then just put the frozen food in the slow cooker. Thawing at room temperature and then putting on low temperature to cook is just asking for trouble with bacteria growth.

Other comments revealed more unique ideas on this topic. One suggested leaving the food in the zip-top freezer bag and popping it directly into the slow cooker, like a slow cooker liner. That’s another recipe for trouble. Remember: while freezer-quality bags are great for freezing, they are not designed to for long-term heating.

Another person suggested freezing directly in the slow cooker liner bags. Again, these liners were not designed for this purpose and using them this way may result in loss of quality.

I really do love the idea of planning ahead and doing some “mass preparation” to save time and have food ready to go when needed. So, what would make these recipes a little more appealing and safer?

Check out the recipes you’d really like and start with only a few meals. Make sure your family likes the outcomes and that many slow cooked meals before you get a freezer full. This will also eliminate the possibility of overloading the freezer.

Then, freeze the vegetable/seasonings and meat in separate bags. This would allow you to brown the meat before putting it in the slow cooker in the morning. Taking the time to do this can provide better color and flavor to the final product and also it helps speed the meat through the temperature danger zone.

Most of the recipes say to take the bag from the freezer the night before and allow it to thaw in the refrigerator. While thawing in the refrigerator is the best method, one overnight may not be enough, so you may need to plan ahead a little more.

Use the appropriate packaging materials and then use them for their intended purpose. There’s no reason that you can’t use slow cooker liners for easy clean-up, they just aren’t intended for freezer storage.

As you’re getting ready in the morning, start the food off on high and then turn it to low before you leave the house. This helps jump start the temperature in the slow cooker and rushes the food through the TDZ.

And above all, don’t listen to “know it alls” “old wives tales” and “we’ve always done it this way” that you’ll find in the comment sections on Facebook. Check out the evidence and researched-based references on food safety.

By Cheryle Jones Syracuse, MS, Professor Emeritus at The Ohio State University

Here’s a handout with the highlights of slow cooker food safety!

Check out these additional kitchen safety resources…

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Temp That Burger!

Posted on October 28, 2015 by cheryle

My brother-in-law always teases me about “temping” food. I’ve never heard it called that, but what he loves to joke about is my use of a thermometer when I’m cooking.

It’s true — I can’t resist “temping.” I even use my thermometer when I’m cooking on the grill.

Yes, there are lots of ways to judge doneness, but they’re not equally effective. I know that many people use the meat’s color as their guide, but you can’t really rely on meat’s appearance to tell whether it’s done. The color of cooked ground beef can be quite variable. At 160 degree Fahrenheit (F), a safely-cooked patty may look brown, pink, or somewhere in-between. When a patty is cooked to 160 degrees F throughout, it can be safe and juicy, regardless of color.

How do I know this?

Well, recently I was cooking burgers on the grill and using their appearance as my guide to “doneness.” Honestly, I thought they needed more time. I pulled out my thermometer to check, and I found that the burgers had already surpassed the recommended 160 degrees F. I could have easily overcooked those burgers!

Anyway, the moral of the story is that, when it comes to cooking meat, you can’t always tell doneness by the color.

The only way to be sure a ground beef patty is cooked to a high enough temperature to destroy any harmful bacteria that may cause a foodborne illness is to use an accurate instant-read thermometer.

Here’s exactly how to do it…

For ground meat patties, insert the thermometer at least ½ inch into the thickest part of the patty near the end of the cooking time.
If the burger is not thick enough to check from the top, the thermometer should be inserted sideways.
If you’re not sure if you got into the center, you can take a second reading in a different part of the burger.

All ground beef, veal, lamb or pork patties should be cooked to 160 degrees F. If you’re making a ground turkey or chicken burger, ensure that the patty reaches 165 degrees F.

I know lots of people will disagree with this. How many times have I heard people insist that they like their beef burgers rare or cooked below 160 degrees F? This is a personal choice that you can make, but know that you are putting your own health at risk when you eat those burgers. You’re also endangering anyone else who might eat one of your undercooked creations. I especially don’t consider this an acceptable option for poultry burgers.

Here’s why.

Rare hamburgers are far riskier to your health than a rare steak. If any pathogens are present on the outside of a whole piece of meat — like a steak — the high heat that sears and cooks the outside will destroy the dangerous bacteria. But when meat is ground up, any bacteria on the surface are mixed throughout the meat. Therefore, heat needs to get all the way into the middle of the burger to destroy these harmful bacteria.

The real concern here is a foodborne bacteria commonly known as E. coli. This bacteria and the illness it causes have been linked to the consumption of undercooked ground beef. Don’t let E. coli stay in your food — cook it out!

Oh, and here’s a special word of caution: while a healthy adult may not feel the effects of an undercooked burger, guests or other family members may be more at risk. The very young, the very old, and those with immune systems that have been weakened by cancer, kidney disease, and other illnesses are the most vulnerable to sicknesses associated with contaminated food. This is especially true with E. coli. These bacteria have been known to cause long-term illnesses including potentially fatal kidney failure.

Why take the risk?

By Cheryle Jones Syracuse, MS, Professor Emeritus at The Ohio State University

Here is a free step-by-step food safety handout for grilling ground beef.

There are lots of food safety resources in the Nutrition Education Store!

Food Safety Poster: Safe Cooking Temperatures

Food Safety Handout and PowerPoint Set

Food Safety Poster

What’s Wrong with This Picture?

Posted on September 16, 2015 by cheryle

I just can’t take a vacation from food safety. We recently took a wonderful trip to Europe, and like all good foodies, I had to check out the markets and grocery stores to get a feel for what the locals were buying and eating. At a fabulous market in Spain, I took these photos of a gentleman cutting a watermelon for display and sale.

What’s wrong with this picture?

Or this one?

There are several potential food safety concerns in just these two photos: Did the man wash his hands before cutting the melon? Was the outside of the melon washed before it was cut? Was the knife clean? What about the cleanliness of the surface? Did he store it on ice after it was cut? From what I observed, none of these precautions were taken in this particular situation.

Washing melons or other fresh fruit before cutting reduces bacteria that may be present on the surface. These bacteria could be from the soil in which the product grew, or perhaps on the hands of the person who picked it. They could also be on the hands of the shipper, or in this case, the market owner. Some people think that since you don’t eat the rind of a melon, it’s not necessary to wash it, but if the rind is not washed before cutting, any bacteria that might be on the rind could be transferred to the moist center of the fruit — where it could easily grow and multiply. I had similar concerns about the cutting surface and the knife (how many unwashed melons were cut with the same knife that morning?) Also, cut fruit should be refrigerated; it should have been placed on ice. Needless to say, we didn’t buy this melon.

While this photo was taken in Spain, I’m sure that that wasn’t the only market where food wasn’t treated as safely as it should have been.

This is one of those situations when the consumer needs to be alert and use caution. If you’re shopping at farmers’ markets or grocery stores that sell sectioned or fresh-cut fruit, make sure you choose a place that keeps food safety in mind. When you’re tempted to taste a sample or purchase something, look around and made sure that the person offering the sample or selling the item is using good food safety practices. These practices include: washing the produce before cutting it, wearing clean gloves, using a clean knife and keeping items cold as necessary.

Don’t take risks with food safety.

By Cheryle Jones Syracuse, MS, Professor Emeritus at The Ohio State University

We’re here to help you look your very best, right now, so don’t miss these marvelous food safety resources from the Nutrition Education Store…

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And here’s the best part — a free food safety handout that you can share with your clients!

Summer Food Safety Tips

Posted on July 8, 2015 by cheryle

The temperatures are creeping up outside, and this nice weather means that lots of people will want to have outdoor barbecues, picnics, and pot lucks. These can be a total blast, but I often worry about the extra food safety concerns that accompany these rising temperatures.

Here’s what you and your clients can do to combat foodborne illness this summer…

Remember, the “two hour rule” changes to the “one hour rule” when temperatures creep up above 90 degrees F.
- This means that you should not allow food to sit out at room temperature for longer than one hour.
- Hot temperatures are just right for allowing the bacteria in food to multiply to numbers that could make people sick. This includes foods on picnic tables, buffet lines at family reunions, and bag lunches.
Double check the temperatures in your refrigerator and freezer.
- Refrigerators should be below 40 degrees F and freezers below zero.
- This helps to prolong the life and the quality of the food.
Put a cooler and some ice blocks in the trunk of your car when you go grocery shopping.
- Even 20 minutes in a hot car eats into that “one hour” rule.
- Refrigerate all perishable foods immediately upon getting home.
When doing errands, make the grocery store your last stop.
- Pick up frozen and refrigerated foods just before you hit the checkout lines.
If you’re going to a farmers’ market, farm stand, or pick-your-own field, take a cooler along too. Don’t store fresh produce in the trunk of your car.
If you don’t finish your meal at a restaurant, make sure there’s a cooler in the car for any food you bring home. The “one hour rule” goes into effect here too!
Don’t get careless with picnics and other outdoor food events. Unless you are absolutely sure about the safety of the food, throw away any leftovers.

Living can be easy in the summertime, but food safety takes a little more effort and planning. Have a wonderful and food-safe summer!

By Cheryle Jones Syracuse, MS, Professor Emeritus at The Ohio State University

At the Nutrition Education Store, we’re here to help you look your very best, right now! Check out these bestselling summer resources…

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Thank you for scrolling all the way through today’s post! Here’s a free handout with the top summer food safety tips!

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