Is our food safe?: How can we protect ourselves.

In 1996 a serious foodborne illness due to Escherichia coli O157:H7 (a bacteria) was traced to drinking contaminated unpasteurized apple juice. The year before that, the same organism was the cause of several deaths from eating undercooked hamburgers. In 1997, school age children were getting hepatitis from strawberries contaminated with Hepatitis A virus. This resulted in 150 children getting sick. Before that another organism, Cyclospora cayetanenesis (a parasite) was shown to cause illness in people who ate strawberries and/or raspberries. We have known for years that the shells of chicken eggs have a bacteria called Salmonella enteritidis on them. In fact, between 200,000 and 1,000,000 cases of illness due to this bacteria occur yearly in the United States.

Most people think that food poisoning can't possibly occur in their home (It must have been what I ate at the restaurant last night!). However, studies indicate that people often do not handle food safely at home. The majority of food poisonings occur at home. A study by the Food Marketing Institute demonstrated that if a person is told how to properly handle food they were more likely to avoid improper food storage and handling.

The problem is that comsumers are rarely informed on how to properly store and handle food. This past spring the Clinton administration promoted a $43.2 million program (The Food Safety Initiative) to improve the safety of the nation's food supply. Part of this program involves educating consumers on the proper handling of food. Educating people on how to handle food is vitally important. I thought I could give you a few tips on proper food handling and storage that might prevent an illness in your family.

• Wash your hands with soap and water often while preparing your food. After cutting up meat, wash your hands before handling the fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Wash your cutting boards with soap and water after using. Ideally have two cutting boards. (One for meats and the other for fruits and vegetables.) The bacteria on the meat won't contaminate your fresh foods. If you only have one cutting board cut up the fresh foods first and then your meats. Wash the board with soap and water between uses.
• Do NOT place your cooked meat on the same plate or cutting board that you used for the raw meat. The cooking may have killed the organisms on the meat however, by placing the cooked meat on the contaminated plate or board you have now recontaminated your meat.
• Cook your food to the proper temperature. The cooking will kill the microorganisms. However, you must get that high temperature to the
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