Handling Food Safely

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Handling Food Safely COURSE TITLE: Handling Food Safely COURSE CODE: EL-HFS-COMP-0

COURSE OUTLINE Section 1: Introduction

A. Course Contributors B. About This Course C. Learning Objectives

Section 2: Food-Borne Illnesses A. Meet Yannan B. What Is Food-Borne Illness? C. Facts about Food-Borne Illnesses D. The Most Common Food-Borne Illnesses E. Campylobacter F. Salmonella G. E. coli 0157:H7 H. Calicivirus I. Listeria J. Let’s Review K. Section Summary

Section 3: Handling and Preparing Food Safely A. How Does Food Become Contaminated? B. Handling and Preparing Food Safely C. Use Caution When You Buy Your Food D. Store Your Food Properly E. How Long Can I Store Foods? F. Use Special Precautions When Preparing and Cooking Food G. Thawing H. Cooking I. Serving Food, Storing Leftovers, and Refreezing J. Terrence’s Traffic Jam K. Section Summary

Section 4: Summary A. Summary B. References

Section 1: Introduction


Course Contributors This course was written by Steve Jenkins, Ph.D. Dr. Jenkins is a counseling psychologist and a professor at Wagner College in New York that has extensive clinical expertise working in corrections and other behavioral healthcare settings. His forensic experience includes bridging the communication gaps and improving relations between adolescent and adult inmates and corrections officers and prison staff. He has conducted anger-management groups for violent offenders and recidivism prevention groups for sexual offenders. Dr. Jenkins has developed workshops and trainings on psychoeducation and best practices in evidence-based individual and group psychotherapy based on his own experiences. Dr. Jenkins is an associate fellow and completed his post-doctoral training at the Albert Ellis Institute for Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy. He has been published in top psychological journals and books including the Journal of College Counseling, The Counseling Psychologist, Contemporary Family Therapy, and Counseling Psychology Quarterly. Dr. Jenkins also regularly presents his research at national conferences. This course was reviewed by David Hanson, MA, CSP, ARM, CPCU, AIC. Mr. Hanson is a senior-level health and safety executive, holding a Master’s in Occupational Safety and a Health and Certified Safety Professional designation. Mr. Hanson has substantial experience in developing and supporting health and safety programs for a variety of organizations. He also as an extensive background in the design and implementation of risk management programs for organizations, ranging from local government agencies to global enterprises. Mr. Hanson regularly engages in training program development, content review, and project management for a variety of training venues including computer-based delivery.

About This Course As someone who prepares food, you know that when food is not handled safely, it can result in serious illness to those who come into contact with it. While most of us know some of the basics of food safety, such as making sure we have clean hands before we prepare or serve food, you may not know some of the other safety guidelines that begin with buying food and end with storing it properly. In this course, you will learn about the most common types of food-borne illness, their most frequent symptoms, and some serious complications that can arise in certain individuals. You will also learn how to minimize the chance of a food-borne illness occurring. You will learn how to choose meats and poultry from the store, as well as how to handle, prepare, cook, serve, cool, and store foods in the safest manner. Essentially, this course you will provide you with the tools you need to handle food in a safe manner. A few interactive exercises along the way will help facilitate your learning and allow you to test your knowledge of the things you learn. This course is appropriate for anyone who handles food.


Learning Objectives After completing this course, you should be able to:

Discuss the most common types of food-borne illnesses, as well as their symptoms and potential complications.

Explain the four main principles of handling food safely.

List the minimum internal temperatures that different meats and fish need to reach in order to be considered safe to eat.

Section 2: Food-Borne Illnesses

Meet Yannan Yannan considers herself a pescatarian, because the only meat she will eat is fish. She is having several guests for a holiday celebration, and is going to cook a turkey. This is her first time cooking a turkey, and she wants to make sure that it is moist and not overcooked. From her experience preparing fish, she knows that to be safe, fish should be cooked to 140° F. Because she has no experience cooking other meats, she assumes that this is a universal cooking temperature and promptly takes the turkey out of the oven when it reads 145° F. When she cuts into the leg, she notices that the juices are pink in color, but assumes this is normal in animals. The dinner is a great success, and her guests congratulate her on cooking a turkey that was not dry. Unfortunately, the next day, she learned that several of her guests became very sick and suffered from diarrhea, stomach cramps, and vomiting, and two people actually had to go to the hospital for treatment. So what could Yannan done differently? As you will learn in this course, there is more than one aspect to handling food safely, including knowing that certain types of meats need to be cooked to different temperatures. If Yannan had known that poultry needs to be cooked to a temperature of 165° F, her guests might not have become ill.

What is Food-Borne Illness? You can contract a food-borne illness by consuming, through ingestion, contaminated foods or beverages. Many different disease-causing microbes, or pathogens, can contaminate foods, so there are many different kinds of food-borne infections that you should know about. Sometimes toxic chemicals or other harmful substances can cause food-borne diseases if they


are present in food. Poisonous mushrooms Most people are aware that it is possible to become ill from certain foods, but you may be surprised to find out that there are actually more than 250 different food-borne diseases. Most of these are caused by a variety of bacteria, viruses, and parasites that can be food-borne. These different diseases have many different symptoms, so there is no one "syndrome" that is food-borne illness. However, the first symptoms are often nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea.

Facts about Food-Borne Illnesses Each year in the United States, approximately 76 million people get sick, more than 300,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 people die from food-borne illness. As you can see, contaminated or unclean food can be very dangerous. It can be especially dangerous for young children, older adults, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems. However, the good news is that if food is handled and prepared properly, most of these illnesses can be avoided.

The Most Common Food-Borne Illnesses The most commonly recognized food-borne infections are those caused by the bacteria Campylobacter, Salmonella, and E. coli O157:H7. Additionally, there is a group of viruses called calicivirus, also known as the Norwalk and Norwalk-like viruses, that are commonly recognized. In the next few pages, you will learn about these illnesses and common ways that people contract them. Later in this course, you’ll learn important information on how handle food safely to reduce the likelihood that you will eat or serve contaminated food. Continue to the next page to get started!

Campylobacter Campylobacter is a bacterial pathogen that causes fever, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. It is the most commonly identified bacterial cause of diarrheal illness in the world. These bacteria live in the intestines of healthy birds, and most raw poultry meat has Campylobacter on it. Eating raw or undercooked meat like chicken or other food that has been “cross-contaminated” - for instance, by juices on a cutting board or dripping from raw chicken - is the most frequent source of this infection. If you get Campylobacteriosis (infection by Campylobacter), you will most likely recover


completely within two to five days, although sometimes it can take up to 10 days. However, you should know that in rare cases, Campylobacter infection can have long-term consequences. Some people develop arthritis. In very rare cases (approximately one in a thousand), people may develop a rare disease called Guillain-Barré syndrome where several weeks after initial symptoms, an individual’s immune system begins to attack the body’s own nerves, resulting in paralysis that lasts several weeks. Guillain-Barré syndrome usually requires intensive care.

Salmonella Salmonella is another bacterium that is widespread in the intestines of birds, reptiles, and mammals. It can spread to humans via a variety of different foods of animal origin. Similar to Campylobacter, the illness it causes, Salmonellas, typically includes fever, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. However, if you have a poor underlying health or weakened immune systems, it can invade your bloodstream and can cause life-threatening infections unless you are treated quickly with antibiotics. If you become infected with Salmonella, you will most likely develop symptoms 12 to 72 hours after infection. Your illness would typically last 4 to 7 days, and recovery may not require treatment. However, in instances where the diarrhea is extremely severe, hospitalization may be necessary.

E. coli 0157:H7 E. coli O157:H7 (commonly referred to as just E. coli) is a bacterial pathogen that has a reservoir in cattle and other similar animals. Human illness typically follows consumption of food or water that has been contaminated with microscopic amounts of cow feces. If you contract E. coli, you are likely to develop severe and bloody diarrhea, as well as painful abdominal cramps, but you may or may not develop a fever. In 5 to 10% of cases, a complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) can occur several weeks after the initial symptoms. If you do become ill from E. coli, you should be on the lookout for symptoms that may indicate HUS, which include lessened frequency of urination, fatigue or exhaustion, and loss of pink tones in cheeks and inside the lower eyelids. If you develop HUS, you need to seek hospitalization. There is a chance that your kidneys could fail and there are other possible serious complications. The good news is that most people who develop HUS recover within a few weeks. However, HUS needs to be taken seriously, as it can have long lasting effects, or even result in death.

Calicivirus Calicivirus, or Norwalk-like virus, is an extremely common cause of food-borne illness, though it is rarely diagnosed because the laboratory test is not widely available. If you develop Calicivirus, you are likely to develop an acute gastrointestinal illness, usually with more vomiting


than diarrhea, that resolves within two days. Unlike many food-borne pathogens that have animal reservoirs, it is believed that Norwalk-like viruses spread primarily from one infected person to another. The virus can also survive on surfaces that have been contaminated with the virus or be spread through contact with an infected person. Infected kitchen workers can contaminate a salad or sandwich as they prepare it if they have the virus on their hands. There have also been reported cases of infected fishermen contaminating oysters as they harvested them.

Listeria Another type of bacterium that you may have heard of is Listeria. If you develop Listeria, also known by its full name of Listeria monocytogenes, you are likely to develop muscle aches, fever, and potentially diarrhea. Severe infections may result in headaches, convulsions, meningitis, and even death. A recent outbreak in 2011 has already been responsible for 18 deaths, apparently stemming from cantaloupes from one farm in Colorado. Some suggest that washing a cantaloupe prior to cutting it open may prevent the surface contamination from getting into the fruit. If you develop Listeria, you may have an incubation period as long as three weeks before symptoms appear. Healthy people who are exposed to the bacteria may have little to no symptoms, but some people are more susceptible to these organisms. At-risk individuals include the elderly, newborns, pregnant women and their unborn babies, and anyone with a weakened immune system. Listeria bacteria can be found all around the world, and are frequently harbored by farm animals that may or may not show signs of infection.

Let’s Review A group of viruses called Calicivirus is also known as: Choose the correct answer

Campylobacter

Salmonella

E. coli

Norwalk

Listeria Check Your Answer: Calicivirus, or Norwalk-like virus, is an extremely common cause of food-borne illness, though it is rarely diagnosed because the laboratory test is not widely available. It causes an acute gastrointestinal illness, usually with more vomiting than diarrhea, which resolves within two days.


Section Summary Congratulations on completing the first section! Let’s do a quick review of some of the things you have learned already that have increased your awareness of handling food safely. You now know that:

Food-borne illnesses can be especially dangerous to young children, older adults, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems.

Campylobacter is the most commonly identified bacterial cause of diarrheal illness in the world.

Other commonly recognized food-borne infections include Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7, and Norwalk-like viruses, all of which can have potentially severe complications.

Now that you know the basics of common food-borne illnesses, in the next section you will learn how to handle food safely to decrease the likelihood of contracting or spreading such illnesses.

Section 3: Handling and Preparing Food Safely

How Does Food Become Contaminated? Food-borne illnesses occur when food is not handled safely and prepared properly. All managers, nutrition coordinators and staff involved in meal preparation should be aware of how to handle and prepare food safely. In order to prevent food-borne illnesses, it is absolutely necessary to practice safe steps in food handling, cooking, and storage. Harmful bacteria that cause illnesses cannot be detected by sight, smell, or taste, so it is extremely important for you to follow the safety guidelines that you will learn in this course. In every step of food preparation, you should remember these principles of keeping food safe:

Keep your hands and all surfaces clean by washing them frequently.

Avoid cross-contamination! Keep raw meats separate from other foods at all times, and wash your hands and any surfaces that have come in contact with raw meats or their juices before they touch other foods.

Always cook foods to the minimum safe temperature.

Refrigerate food promptly after it cools. In the pages that follow in this section, we will discuss these principles further to help you implement safety when you handle and prepare food.


Handling and Preparing Food Safely Almost everyone remembers at least one time when they got sick with a food-borne illness. Was it caused only from eating out at a restaurant? Not at all. In fact, many cases of food-borne illnesses actually take place in the home. All food may contain some natural bacteria, but when the food is improperly handled, cooked, or stored, it allows the bacteria to grow. Sometimes, bacteria from other sources can contaminate food and cause illnesses. However, it is possible to avoid most food-borne illnesses through safe handling, preparation, and storage of food. In the next few pages, you will learn the four main ways you can use to prevent contamination in terms of buying, storing, preparing, and storing food.

Use Caution When You Buy Your Food People often think of handling food safely as something that starts after you have already purchased the food you plan to prepare and eat. However, food safety begins before this. For instance, when you buy food, you should always buy perishable food such as meat, eggs, and milk last so that they will be out of refrigeration for the least amount of time possible. Another rule to remember when you are purchasing food is to avoid raw or unpasteurized milk, and also never buy food that is past any “sell by,” “use by,” or other expiration dates. As you know, eggs, meat, seafood, or poultry are the most likely to contain bacteria, so you should take extra care to make sure their juices do not drip on other foods. In addition, never pick meat or poultry in packaging that is torn or leaking. Finally, make sure you shop for groceries only when you can take the food home right away so that it does not spoil in a hot car.

Store Your Food Properly Proper storage of food is another important step in food safety. For instance, you should store eggs, raw meat, poultry, and seafood in the refrigerator in containers that will prevent them from contaminating other foods. You should also make sure to get perishable food in the refrigerator within two hours, and if the temperature is above 90° F, even faster - within one hour. Refrigerator maintenance is also a part of storing food properly. The refrigerator should be at 40° F or below and the freezer at 0° F or below. Use an appliance thermometer to ensure that you maintain these temperatures.

How Long Can I Store Foods?


When storing foods, you should keep in mind that perishables can only be kept in the refrigerator for a very limited time. You should cook or freeze fresh poultry, fish, ground meats, and variety meats within two days. Other meats such as beef, veal, lamb and pork can last three to five days. To maintain quality when you are freezing meat and poultry in its original package, you should wrap the package again with foil or plastic wrap that is recommended for the freezer. You probably already know that canned food can usually be stored longer than refrigerated or frozen food. In general, high-acid canned food such as tomatoes, grapefruit, and pineapple can be stored on the shelf for 12 to 18 months. Low-acid canned food such as meat, poultry, fish, and most vegetables will keep two to five years if the can remains in good condition and has been stored in a cool, clean, and dry place. You should discard cans that are dented, leaking, bulging, or rusted. 1. Perishables can only be kept in the refrigerator for a very limited time. TRUE FALSE The answer is true. 2. You should cook or freeze fresh poultry, fish, ground meats, and variety meats within three to five days. TRUE FALSE The answer is false. You should cook or freeze fresh poultry, fish, ground meats, and variety meats within two days. 3. Meats such as beef, veal, lamb and pork can last two days. TRUE FALSE The answer is false. Meats such as beef, veal, lamb and pork can last three to five days.

Use Special Precautions When Preparing and Cooking Food We all know that we should wash our hands before we start preparing food. However, it is also important for you to remember to wash your hands (as well as clean and disinfect kitchen surfaces) before, during, and after handling, cooking, and serving food. Similarly, you should always wash raw fruits and vegetables before cutting or eating them. Additionally, you may need to clean cutting boards with a brush or abrasive pad. When you defrost frozen food, you should do so on a plate either in the refrigerator or in a microwave, but not on the counter. You should also cook food immediately after defrosting. If you are marinating meat or poultry, you should do so in a covered dish in the refrigerator. Just as when you are buying food, it is important to be vigilant about avoiding cross-contamination when preparing food. Be sure to keep raw meat, poultry, fish, and their juices away from other food. After you cut raw meats, you should wash cutting boards, utensils, and countertops with hot, soapy water. You can sanitize these areas by using a solution of one


tablespoon of unscented liquid chlorine bleach in one gallon of water.

Thawing There are a few different ways you can thaw food, depending upon how quickly you want to start preparing it.

Refrigerator When you thaw food in the refrigerator, it allows for slow, safe thawing. Of course, you should always make sure that thawing meat and poultry juices do not drip onto other food. Cold Water If you need faster thawing, you should place food in a leak-proof plastic bag, submerge it in cold tap water, and change the water every 30 minutes. You should then be sure to cook the food immediately after thawing. Microwave Microwaving is the fastest way to thaw food. If you use the microwave to thaw, you should cook meat and poultry immediately after thawing.

Cooking One of the most essential elements of safe handling of food is cooking it properly. Eating undercooked meat and poultry is one of the most common causes of food-borne illness. Meat

Beef, veal, and lamb steaks, roasts, and chops should be cooked to 145° F.

All cuts of pork should be cooked to 160° F.

Ground beef, veal and lamb should be cooked to 160° F. Poultry

Cook poultry, including ground chicken or turkey, until it has an internal temperature of 165° F.

It is done when the juices run clear and it is white in the middle. Never eat rare poultry. Eggs

Cook eggs until they are firm and not runny.

Do not eat raw or partially cooked eggs.

Avoid eating other foods that include raw or partially cooked eggs. Fish

Cook fish until it is opaque or white and flaky, and reaches a temperature of 145° F.


To learn more about how to ensure that each type of food is cooked properly, answer the following questions. 1. At what temperature should all cuts of pork be cooked at? The correct response is 160° F 2. What internal temperature does poultry need to be at to be safe to eat? The correct response is 165° F 3. Is it ok to eat raw eggs? The correct response is No, do not eat raw or partially cooked eggs. 4. Beef, veal, and lamb steaks, roasts, and chops should be cooked at what temperature? The correct response is 145° F 5. Cook fish until it is opaque or white and flaky, and reaches a temperature of The correct response is 145° F

Serving Food, Storing Leftovers, and Refreezing Another important part of handling food safely is storing leftovers properly. Because harmful bacteria grow at room temperature, you should keep hot food hot at 140° F or higher, and keep cold food cold at 40 °F or cooler. You should pay special attention to this guideline during picnics and buffets, as food is out for longer periods of time than other meals. You should also keep in mind that perishable foods should not be out for more than two hours. When it is time to store leftovers, you should promptly refrigerate or freeze leftovers in shallow containers or wrapped tightly in bags for rapid cooling. You should discard any food left out at room temperature for more than two hours (one hour if the temperature was above 90° F). Be sure to use cooked leftovers within 3 - 4 days. Meat and poultry defrosted in the refrigerator may be refrozen before or after cooking. If you thaw it by other methods, you should cook it before refreezing.

Terrence’s Traffic Jam Terrence works for a catering company and is preparing for a cocktail party. Some of the foods he is serving include chicken skewers, Swedish meatballs, and a variety of other meats and cheeses. Terrence picked up the food from the store, making sure that he added the perishable foods to his grocery cart last to make sure it was out of the refrigerator for the least amount of time possible. Normally, it would only take him a half an hour to get from the grocery store to the party, but there was a bad accident on the freeway, and Terrence is not sure how long he will be stuck in traffic. He is worried that the food he purchased will not be safe for the party.


Help Terrence remember how long he can keep the perishable food out before it needs to be discarded. Choose the best answer below:

A. Perishable food that has been out any longer than an hour needs to be discarded. (Try again. Perishable food can be out for a longer period of time.)

B. Perishable food that has been out for any longer than two hours must be discarded. (Correct! Two hours is the maximum that perishable food can be out before it needs to be discarded.)

C. Perishable food that has been out any longer than three hours must be discarded. (Try again. Perishable food that has been out this long should be discarded.)

Section Summary

We covered a lot of important material in this section, so let’s take a minute to review some of the key points. In this section you learned that:

Food can become contaminated when it is not handled safely or stored properly.

The primary principles of handling food safely are:

o Keep your hands and all surfaces clean by washing them frequently. o Avoid cross-contamination by keeping raw meats separate from other foods at all

times, and washing your hands and any surfaces that have come in contact with raw meats or their juices before they touch other foods.

o Always cook foods to the minimum safe temperature. o Refrigerate food promptly after it cools.

You should store eggs, raw meat, poultry, and seafood in the refrigerator in containers that will prevent them from contaminating other foods. You should also make sure to get

perishable food in the refrigerator within two hours (one hour when the temperature is above 90° F).

You should cook or freeze fresh poultry, fish, ground meats, and variety meats within two days. Other meats such as beef, veal, lamb and pork can last three to five days.

It is important to thoroughly cook meats, poultry, and fish so as to avoid food-borne illness. Remember these guidelines:

o Beef, veal and lamb steaks, roasts, and chops should be cooked to 145° F. o All cuts of pork should be cooked to 160° F; the same rule applies to ground

beef, veal, and lamb. o Poultry must be cooked until it has an internal temperature of 165° F. o Properly cooked fish should have an internal temperature of 145° F.

Another important part of handling food safely is storing leftovers properly. Because harmful bacteria grow at room temperature, you should keep hot food hot at 140° F or

higher, and keep cold food cold at 40° F or cooler.


Section 4: Summary

Summary Now that you have finished reviewing the course, you should have learned how to:

Discuss the most common types of food-borne illnesses, as well as their symptoms and potential complications.

Recognize that food-borne illnesses can be especially dangerous to young children, older adults, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems.

Describe different ways that food can become contaminated.

Identify foods that should not be purchased, such as meats that are leaking or past their expiration date.

Practice safe handling of food from beginning to end, including purchasing, preparing, cooking, thawing, cooling, and storing perishable foods.

Explain how to properly store food, and when perishable food should be discarded.

Apply your knowledge of safe cooking temperatures to the foods you cook.

References Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: http://www.foodsafety.gov/ U.S. Food and Drug Administration: http://www.fda.gov/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2008) Preventing Falls: How to Develop Community-based Fall Prevention Programs for Older Adults. http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/images/CDC_Guide-a.pdf Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014) CDC FY 2015 Congressional Justification. http://www.cdc.gov/injury/pdfs/budget/NCIPC_Final2015_CDC-a.pdf http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/facts.html http://www.cdc.gov/ounceofprevention/

http://www.cdc.gov/

http://www.foodsafety.gov/

http://www.fda.gov/

http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/images/CDC_Guide-a.pdf

http://www.cdc.gov/injury/pdfs/budget/NCIPC_Final2015_CDC-a.pdf

http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/facts.html

http://www.cdc.gov/ounceofprevention/


http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/campylobacter/ http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5002a1.htm http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr5002.pdf

http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/campylobacter/

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5002a1.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr5002.pdf

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Handling Food Safely