Food Safety Strategies From The Market to the Table
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Weight Loss Clinic – Feature
Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD
Tainted animal feed. Spinach scares. Peanut butter recalls. Food safety has been big news lately, which is making many people think twice about what’s on
their plates.
First, the facts. The FDA says some U.S. hogs, poultry, and farmed fish recently ate animal feed containing Chinese ingredients tainted
with an industrial chemical called melamine. But the FDA says people who ate
meat from those animals are likely at “very low” risk of
melamine-related health problems.
The source of the salmonella outbreak in Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter has been
found, and maker ConAgra plans to start shipping Peter Pan Peanut Butter to retailers this summer. And Last fall’s E. coli outbreak in
fresh bagged spinach is over.
Despite the spate of food safety snafus, America’s food safety system works,
CDC senior epidemiologist Linda Demma, PhD, tells WebMD.
“I certainly don’t think it’s broken. I think we can improve, but I
don’t think it’s broken,” says Demma, who works in the enteric disease
epidemiology branch of the CDC’s division of foodborne, bacterial, and mycotic
diseases.
“All the food safety agencies are working very hard to collaborate and
come up with some ideas on how to improve the meat and produce industry as a
whole,” Demma says, adding that food industries “are being very
cooperative.”
In light of food safety issues, the FDA recently created a new FDA job —
assistant commissioner for food protection — and appointed David Acheson, MD,
FRCP, to fill that post. Earlier this year, the FDA issued new guidelines for
the fresh-cut produce industry, which market packaged, minimally processed
fresh fruits and vegetables.
While food safety controls are being tweaked, here are 15 tips on making
your food safer, from the market to the table.
1. Consider your source. Eating locally grown food is
becoming more popular, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s safer than supermarket produce.
“Just because you grow it in a farm down the street, it doesn’t make it
any safer or worse than any other produce that you get,” Suresh Pillai,
PhD, tells WebMD.
Pillai is a professor of food safety and environmental microbiology at Texas
A&M University.
Locally grown food “is pretty much on par with what you would find in a
supermarket,” in terms of food safety, Demma agrees. “Of course, there
[are] other reasons to buy and eat locally,” she says.
At farmers markets, you may get the chance to meet and talk with the people
who produced your food.
Farmers markets have become more common, with 4,385 U.S. farmers markets in
2006, up from 1,755 farmers markets in 1994, according to the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA).
Eating food shipped from overseas? The melamine-tainted animal feed
ingredients came from China. But that doesn’t mean that all imported food is
suspect.
“The assumption that the imported products are unsafe is absolutely not
true,” Pillai says. “In fact, there are as many outbreaks associated
with foods grown in the United States. So blaming it on imported products, I
think, is a cop-out.”
2. Map your supermarket route. Don’t cruise the store aisles
aimlessly. Gather nonperishable items first, fresh or frozen goods last. That
strategy minimizes the time that perishable goods sit in your shopping cart
instead of in a freezer or refrigerator.
3. Be choosy. Select fresh produce that isn’t bruised or
damaged. Check that eggs aren’t cracked. Look for a clean meat or fish counter
and a clean salad bar. Don’t buy bulging or dented cans, cracked jars, or jars
with loose or bulging lids. If fresh-cut produce (such as half a watermelon or
bagged salad mixes) is on your shopping list, choose those that are
refrigerated or surrounded by ice.
4. Pack it up. At the grocery store, bag fresh fruits and vegetables
separately from meat, poultry, and seafood products.
Bring an ice chest to keep frozen or perishable items if it will take more
than an hour to get those items home.
No ice chest? If it’s hot outside, put the groceries in the air-conditioned
passenger area of your car instead of putting them in the trunk, which may not
have air-conditioning.
5. Keep your kitchen clean. Wash your cutting boards, countertops,
refrigerator, pots, and utensils regularly in hot, soapy water, especially
after they’ve been in contact with raw meat, poultry, and seafood.
6. Check your cutting boards. They shouldn’t have lots of cracks and
crevices where bacteria can lurk.
7. Sanitize. The FDA recommends periodically sanitizing your cutting
boards, countertops, and kitchen sink drain with a homemade mixture of one
teaspoon of chlorine bleach to one quart of water.
Sponges and dishcloths can house bacteria, so wash them weekly in hot water
in the washing machine.
8. Store your food properly. Refrigerate frozen and perishable items
as soon as possible.
Don’t store foods near household chemicals or cleaning products. Some
produce — like onions and potatoes — don’t need to go in the refrigerator,
but don’t store them under the sink, where they could be damaged by leaky
pipes.
9. Check the refrigerator and freezer temperature. Set the
refrigerator temperature to 40 degrees Fahrenheit, set the freezer to zero
degrees Fahrenheit.
Use a refrigerator thermometer to check those temperatures periodically.
10. Wash your hands. Before you handle food, lather up with soap and
hot water, washing your hands for at least 20 seconds. Repeat after handling
produce, meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs.
11. Wash fruits and vegetables in running water. A small scrub brush
may help, but don’t use soap or other detergents to wash produce.
What about produce washes? “All of these solutions and washes may have
some applications but studies show that washing with water is as safe as
anything else,” says Pillai, who calls water the “most effective, the
safest, and the cheapest” way to wash produce.
12. Thaw foods in the refrigerator, not on the countertop. It may
take longer, but it’s safer.
13. Cook foods thoroughly. Use a meat thermometer to make sure meat
is fully cooked. Never put cooked meats on an unwashed plate or platter that
has held raw meat.
14. Store leftovers safely. Refrigerate leftovers in tight containers
as soon as possible and use them within three days. When in doubt, throw it
out.
15. Maintain perspective. “There’s no such thing as a zero
risk,” says Pillai. “There’s no such thing as a sterile product.”
Everyone in the U.S. should get more education about food safety “so the
responsibilities are being spread all across from the proverbial farm to
fork,” says Pillai.
While you can’t control everything that affects your food, “you should
not lose a sense of reality,” says Pillai. “I still believe that we
have one of the safest supplies of food in the world.”
Published May 10, 2007.
SOURCES: WebMD Medical News: “Tainted Animal Feed May Be in Fish.”
WebMD Medical News: “Peanut Butter Salmonella Source Fo