Reduce the risk of food-borne illness
Follow these steps to increase food safety
For private duty agencies that prepare meals for clients, preventing food-borne illness is a major consideration. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta estimated last year that 6 million people would be diagnosed with food-borne illnesses, and about 9,000 people would die.Private Duty Homecare consulted several dietitians as well as resources such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture for tips on safe handling of food. Advice such as washing your hands before you handle food may be basic, but one dietitian warns not to assume anything. "Sometimes we think it’s common knowledge, but depending on someone’s background, it might not be," says Laura Condit, RD, CNSD, dietitian for Continuing Care Services, a department of Kaiser Permanente in Portland, OR.
Here are some guidelines for safe food handling:
• Keep it safe: refrigerate or freeze.
Refrigerate or freeze all perishable foods. Refrigerator temperature should 40° F or less; freezer temperature should be 0° F or less. Use a refrigerator/freezer thermometer to check the temperatures. (For more information on storing perishable foods, see chart inserted in this issue.)
• Never thaw food at room temperature.
Always thaw food in the refrigerator, in cold water, or in a microwave. When thawing in the microwave, you must cook the food immediately.
• Wash hands with warm soapy water before preparing food. Wash hands, utensils, cutting boards, and other work surfaces after contact with raw meat and poultry.
This helps prevent cross contamination.
Use separate cutting boards for poultry and raw meat, adds Franca B. Alphin, RD, LDN, MPH, president of Smart Bite Consulting in Chapel Hill, NC, and nutrition director of the Duke University Diet and Fitness Center in Durham NC. "Also, make sure you clean the utensils you use with poultry with Comet or a bleach agent so you are killing any type of bacteria before you use them on something else."
• Never leave perishable food out of refrigeration more than two hours.
If temperature is 90° F or above, food should not be left out more than one hour. This would include items such as take-out foods, leftovers from a restaurant meal, and Meals On Wheels deliveries. (See box, p. 65.)
"We tend to leave food out on the counter before we actually freeze it or put it in the refrigerator," says Alphin.
"As soon as something comes out of the oven, put it in the freezer or refrigerator the minute it is cool enough, because a lot of food-borne illness is due to food that is left out at room temperature. That is the ideal medium, the ideal temperature for bacteria to grow in. You want to go from a hot environment, such as the stove or the oven, to as cold an environment as possible as quickly as possible and not leave foods out on the counter for any length of time."
• Thoroughly cook raw meat, poultry, and fish.
Do not partially cook food. Have a constant heat source, and always set the oven at at 325° F or higher when cooking. There is no need to bring food to room temperature before cooking. (For information on food-borne bacteria, see chart, inserted in this issue.)
• Use clean hand towels.
"You should be washing them every other day at least," says Alphin. "Typically, you are using those to prepare food, and it’s the ideal medium for bacteria to grow."
• Clean your sponges well and get new ones at least on a monthly basis.
• Wash fruits and vegetables well.
"Some journals advocate that you wash them with soap and water, but I don’t do that," she says. "In the produce section now, there are special sprays to kill whatever might be on the outside of fruit and vegetables."
• Check expiration dates.
Never use deli meats beyond five days past the expiration date, Alphin says. "Once they get a slimy texture to it, they’re more likely to be going bad." Use fresh fish right away — don’t keep it more than a day if you are not freezing it.
Dairy products, Alphin advises, usually last for a week beyond the expiration date. If yogurt hasn’t been opened, it might last two to three weeks beyond the expiration date. Skim milk often goes rancid faster than milk with fat. Do not use dairy products that have a sour smell.
• Check for mold on breads and cheeses.
"I suggest refrigerating bread, because that extends the life of it, but it does change the texture."
• Remember that mayonnaise-based products, such as potato salad, will get contaminated quickly if left out.
Keep them refrigerated as long as possible.
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