Ask a Dietitian

As seen on BCTV July 18/00

Picnics and parties are a delicious part of summer. However, along with the food often come unwelcome guests. Food borne illness affects one in four British Columbians each year. Fortunately, with a little care and education, these illnesses can be prevented. The most common sources of food borne illness lie in chicken and beef. Raw, these foods are not the best environment for Salmonella and E.coli to grow because there are too many competing organisms in there. However, undercooked, or cooked and recontaminated, the competition is killed and E.coli and Salmonella can flourish.

To prevent cross-contamination, follow these precautions:

• Be sure to cook the meat thoroughly.
• Don’t pierce meat to allow marinade to penetrate as this also allows the pathogens to penetrate to parts of the meat that may not reach hot enough temperatures.
• Don’t use the same basting brush for cooked and raw meats.
• Don’t use the marinade from raw food to baste cooked foods.
• Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water after touching raw meats.
• Don’t use the same cloth to wipe up raw chicken juice as you do to clean the cutting board for cutting foods that won’t be cooked.
• Keep cold foods cold at 4 degrees Celsius. Don’t leave food out at room temperature for more than 2 hours. At parties, serve half the potato salad or vegetable dip and then replace it with a fresh bowl from the fridge 2 hours later.
• Put your sponge or dishrag in the dishwasher or wash in a dilute bleach solution on a daily basis. Microwaving for one minute on high also works to kill organisms.
• Use bleach to disinfect countertops and cooking surfaces.
• Discard cutting boards with deep cuts and scrapes. Sanitize cutting boards after use.Some less common foods that can cause illness if not fresh or properly stored include:
  Bulging Cans: Never open a bulging can. The sparks generated when opening the can could ignite the hydrogen gas and cause an explosion, not to mention spray the contaminated contents on you and risk botulism.
  Jams and Jellies: Moulds on jams and jellies produce toxins that can cause cancer. Discard the whole jar, not just the mould.
  Bread: Throw out bread with mould growth. Toss the whole loaf, not just the slice with mould on it. Mould has roots and penetrates deep into foods. Not only that, but the spores within the bag can contaminate your kitchen spores that land on your eyes can cause blindness.
  Cheese: Cut off at least one inch around mould on hard cheeses.
  Cantaloupe: Wash the outer rind with a dilute bleach solution or vegetable wash to prevent Salmonella contamination through transmission on the knife used to cut it.
  Fruits and vegetables: Discard all mouldy food. Wash and scrub surfaces well.Watch for the Eating for Energy segment every Tuesday on BCTV’s Noon News Hour!