Food Poisoning

Since a member of the Foster family seems to have been hit with it this week, and since my primary job function is to prevent it, I thought I'd talk about it for a few minutes and give a few links that are useful.

First, for any and all bacteria questions, consult the FDA's "Bad Bug Book" (seriously, that's that its called). Its a fantastic link and I consult it often.

Now, a few tips that you probably already know to avoid food poisoning:

1 - WASH YOUR HANDS!!! It is without a doubt the best way to prevent food contamination.
2 - keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold. Most bacteria grow between 40 and 120F. They grow best between 75 and 95F. As food you cooked cools down, if there is even a small number of viable bacteria, they will begin to grow exponentially. When you take food out of the fridge its about 37F. As it warms past 40F, bacteria will grow exponentially.
2a - to kill bacteria, you need to elevate the temperature of the food above 160F ALL THE WAY THROUGH! 160 is pretty much the magic number here. There are time/temperature scales for bacteria killing, but if you get the entire dish above 160, its sterile for all intents and purposes. Heat basically blows up the cells.
2c - Freezing does NOT kill all bacteria. Many bacteria can form spores and once the temperature becomes comfy for the bacteria they start growing again. Listeria (which is a pretty nasty bug) doesn't form spores, but doesn't die and has been known to grow at temperatures as low as 30F.

3 - (not so) FunFacts:
CDC (Centers forDisease Control) estimates 76,000,000 cases / 325,000 hospitalizations / 5,000 deaths annually in the US. Using some poorly applied statistics here, if we assume 300,000,000 people in the US, 1 in 4 people will experience food poisoning every year.

4 - symptoms - Do I really need to list 'em?

5 - onset - how fast does it happen - useful for figuring out what caused it. This is tricky because it depends on what's getting you. Most people think about the last thing they ate and that's not usually the cause. See this page in the bad bug book for a list of onset times based on bacteria. Generally its about 8 hours to onset but it can be longer. So think about what you ate during the last day and then figure out the likely culprits.

6 - bacterial hot spots - Some high risk items :
undercooked red meats - I still order my steaks medium rare, but my hamburgers at Chile's & Islands get ordered medium or medium well.
Undercooked chicken - if its still pink send it back (even if you're significant other cooked it).
Undercooked or uncooked seafood - I still eat sushi, and I eat at sushi bars from time to time, but I know that there's a risk there
cold hot foods or warm cold foods - see #2 above - this leads us to...
buffets / pot lucks : All you can eat restuarants should be fine, they should know what they are doing, but if it looks like its been sitting there for a while, or the potato salad isn't cool, pick another option. Pot lucks are notorious for this - Aunty Bee's potatoe salad being left out at the family picnic and Uncle Tony coming for a last serving 3 hours after it was set out is a recipe for disaster. Tuna salad / chicken salad / shrimp flavored dip are all big time trouble spots. They are probably best to avoid.

So there you go - probably nothing you don't already know, but here it is in one quick reference point. And seriously, take a peak at the Bad Bug Book! Your Tax Dollars at work.