Keeping Food Safe: How to Prevent Foodborne Illnesses

You may be eating food filled with bacteria that could cause serious illnesses. Learn how to carefully handle and store food to keep your family safe.

In the United States, food safety inspections are normal at establishments that prepare food for sale. Such inspections are necessary to protect the consumers from illnesses which can result from poorly prepared or handled food and to alleviate outbreaks linked to tainted food. At home, the onus is upon the entire family to ensure that food is safely handled and stored to prevent foodborne illnesses. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), annually approximately "76 million illnesses occur, more than 300,000 persons are hospitalized, and 5,000 die from foodborne illness."

How Foodborne Illnesses Make Us Sick

Food can make us sick through intoxication or infection. According to "Applied Foodservice Sanitation" (Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1995), intoxication when it comes to food means that toxins or poisons from bacteria or mold growth are present in ingested food and cause illness such as nausea and vomiting. A foodborne infection, on the other hand, is a foodborne illness which results from eating food that contains living harmful micro-organisms. A common symptom of an infection is diarrhea. Whether the food-related illness is linked to an infection such as Salmonellosis or an intoxication such as Staphylococcus, there will be some discomfort to the affected person.

How Bacteria Can Spread in Food

Bacteria, toxins or poisons can spread through domestic and wild animals, humans, improperly processed canned goods, cooked and raw foods and water. A common foodborne illness such as salmonellosis, caused by the bacteria salmonella, can be transmitted from infected poultry, meat and the by-products of these animals when proper food safety measures such as cooking and storing food at the optimal temperatures are not followed. Another common illness, Staphylococcus occurs when cooked or prepared foods such as potato salad, cheese or ham become contaminated with bacteria.

Food Safety Measures

It is very each for bacteria to spread and contaminate food and make people sick. Below are some helpful safety measures which can aid in reducing foodborne illnesses.

• Keep Hands Clean: Food preparers are constantly encouraged to wash hands thoroughly. Bacteria from feces, nasal passages or from other foods can easily spread from hands to food items that are still in the preparation stage. Staphylococcus can easily be spread from a cook who scratches a pimple and does not wash his hands.
• Avoid Damaged Canned Goods: If cans are swollen, frothing or show any signs of damage, discard immediately. "Applied Food Service Sanitation" warns that food from cans that are damaged should not even be tasted to avoid illness and death from botulism, which can attack the nervous system.
• Keep Foods at Safe Temperatures: The Food Safety and Inspection Service(FSIS) website states that "bacteria multiply rapidly between 40 °F and 140 °F (and) to keep food out of this "Danger Zone," keep cold food cold and hot food hot". Refrigerated food should be stored at 40 °F or below in the refrigerator and in the freezer at 0 °F or below. Cooked food must be cooked at a safe minimum internal temperature. Meat such as beef, veal and lamb steaks, roasts, and chops may be cooked to 145 °F and all cuts of pork, ground beef, veal and lamb must be cooked to at a temperature 160 °F. All poultry should reach a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F. Hot cooked food must be maintained at temperatures 140 °F or above and when re-heating, the temperature should be 165 °F.
• Guard Food Against Cross-Contamination: Cross-contamination can occur when utensils, cutting boards and counter surfaces are not cleaned and sanitized when cooking or preparing more than one type of food. A knife that cut a chicken infected with salmonella and then is used without being washed to cut beef can spread the bacteria.
• Purchase Produce Only from Reputable Sources: Produce, especially meat, poultry, fish and the bi-products should be purchased from reputable suppliers who meet health and safety standards.
• Listen out for advisories and food recalls: On February 25, 2010, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a recall for all lots of 25lb boxes of Crushed Red Pepper sold by Wholesome Spice of Brooklyn, New York between April 6, 2009 to January 20, 2010 because the pepper may have possibly been contaminated with salmonella. While there have been no confirmed cases of Salmonellosis linked to the product, it is important to remain vigilant of such recalls and information.

Today, it is important to be vigilant about food safety and health. While foodborne illnesses cannot be completely avoided, having the basic knowledge about the illnesses and some measures to prevent them can aid in keeping a family healthy. The list of safety measures given are not exhaustive but provide a basic foundation for keeping food safe. Visit the CDC, FDA and FSIS websites for more information on food safety and for updates on food recalls.