Column: Food safety

By Gus Bode
July 8, 2009

Student safety is important, but there is one area of safety that is rarely discussed:’ food safety.’ Food-borne illnesses occur when contaminated food and beverages are consumed, leading to a variety of symptoms such as diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, fever, cramping’ – even death.’

Approximately 76 million cases of food-borne illnesses occur each year in the United States.’ There are many steps students can take to avoid food poisoning:

It all starts with cleanliness. Clean hands are essential in preventing the spread of germs and bacteria. Always wash your hands with soap and hot water before handling food. To avoid cross-contamination, clean your work space before and after preparing food. Also, carefully store meat to prevent the juice from leaking onto other foods.
Do not eat perishable foods that have been out for two hours, whether food came from the refrigerator or the oven. And yes, that includes pizza ‘- even if there are no meat toppings. Harmful bacteria can double in amount every 20 minutes when left at temperatures between 40’ degrees and 140 degrees.
Meat should be thawed in the refrigerator, NOT on the counter. Also, when cooking meat, use a food thermometer to check internal temperature. The minimal safe internal temperature for pork and ground beef is 160 degrees, chicken and turkey 165 degrees, and beef 145 degrees. To save time, some students partially cook food with the intention of cooking the rest later. This can breed bacteria that cannot be destroyed by heat used on the item later.
When shopping, locate nonperishable items first and put cold items in your cart last. You have only two hours to get the food from the store to your refrigerator, but only one hour if the temperature outside is more than 90 degrees.
Microwaves are a staple of college cooking. If you have a lot of electrical outlets at your home, less power will get to the microwave, so cook at the maximum time recommended on the directions. Rearrange food or rotate the container halfway through cooking to cook food evenly. A guideline is the internal temperature of food in general should be about 165 degrees. Only use microwavable safe containers because other containers can melt in the microwave, leaking harmful substances into the food.
College students are on the go and may not have access to proper refrigeration. If you tailgate, bring coolers with plenty of ice for meat, cheese and cold salads. Again, cooked and cold items should not be eaten if left out for more than two hours. Use thermal bags to carry a hot lunch to campus, or cold gel packs for items needing to stay below 40 degrees.

If you would prefer not to bring temperature-sensitive foods to campus, there are a variety of healthy items you can pack, such as canned meat (tuna), peanut butter on whole wheat bread, fruit, most vegetables, crackers, pretzels, beef jerky, cereal bars, water, nuts and seeds.’