bacteria

Is My Lettuce Contaminated?

imagesHow often do you rinse your “prewashed” salad mixes before lopping on some dressing and serving it on the dinner table? If your answer isn’t “every time”, you could be risking your health.

According to a recent study by Consumer Reports, you should always give your salad a good rinse before consumption, even if the package says it’s been prewashed or triple washed.

In their study of 208 containers of packaged greens, Consumer Reports found bacteria that “are common indicators of poor sanitation and fecal contamination—in some cases at rather high levels.”

Packages with higher levels of bacteria were the ones that contained spinach and were one to five days from their use-by date. Packages six to eight days from their use-by date were safer, and whether or not the greens were organic, came from a clamshell or bag, or included “baby” greens made no difference.

Stay safe by taking these precautions:

* Buy packages as far from their use-by date as you can find.
* Even if the bag says “prewashed” or “triple-washed,” wash the greens yourself. Rinsing won’t remove all bacteria but may remove residual soil.
* Prevent cross contamination by keeping greens away from raw meat. For more information, go to www.ConsumersUnion.org/safefood.

General Nutrition 0 , ,

Holiday Food Safety Tips

man-with-stomach-painThe Holiday season is time for giving, receiving and sharing. Sharing drinks, food and fun. Be sure to keep your guest’s stomach safe this year by following a few simple Holiday Food Safety Tips.

Tip #1: Don’t allow your food to sit out for more than 2 hours

Most people think that you need to let your food cool down before putting into the refrigerator. But that is just not true. As a matter of fact, bacteria multiplies most rapidly in temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Everyone’s home fits into that temperature range. So as soon as dinner is done, it would be a good idea to take a minute to pack up the food. Besides, you’ll have to make room on the table for all the dessert!

Tip #2: Don’t let your refrigerator get too warm

Kind of a no brainer, but just remember to keep the temp below 40 degrees.

Tip #3: Stack your food carefully in the refrigerator

When placing all of you food in the refrigerator make sure that there is no cross-contamination. All meats should be packed up tightly so that the juices don’t run off on to other foods.

Tip #4: Don’t wash meat and poultry

Even though it may see like the right thing to do, it’s not. Washing meat and poultry will only spread the potential harmful contaminates around. Putting it in your sink and on you, which could easily be transfered to other foods. Plus, washing meat does NOT kill the bacteria, only cooking it will.

These Holiday Food Safety Tips may seem simple enough, but in the hustle and bustle of it all it could be very easy to forget.

General Fitness 0 , , ,

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