Meanwhile, read and heed this: Beware of unhygienic chicken meat (as well as other meats) as it is a source of foodborne diseases, which could be fatal.
According to medical journalist Carol Turkington, new and emerging food pathogens – which were virtually unheard of 50 years ago – are being identified even as we speak or write. Long ago and far away, there were no refrigerators and meat was simply left to hang before it found its way into the cooking pot and onto the dining table.
In the year 2,000, health statistics show that nearly 2.1 million people, mostly from developing countries, died of foodborne diseases after taking contaminated food, such as meat, and drinking unclean water. It’s a growing problem that unsettles the stomachs of health authorities not just in third world countries where hygiene is not a way of life. Fact is, around 76 million cases of foodborne diseases are reported every year in the US, resulting in the death of 5,000 people and the hospitalization of 325,000 others.
The most common source of foodborne illness and bacterial diarrhea in the US is the campylobacter jejuni. The bacterium’s most common source is chicken – most cases are associated with mishandling raw chicken (so, say no to chicken sashimi, which is a popular, to die-for – hopefully, not literally speaking – dish in a pocket-sized resto in Tokyo) or eating undercooked chicken. It can also be found in undercooked beef and pork, unpasteurized milk, shellfish, mushroom, cheese and eggs. It causes gastrointestinal infections in adults as well as babies. Symptoms include severe abdominal pain, fever, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. In two to 10 percent of cases, the infection may lead to chronic arthritis and neurological disorders.
And now, take a few food safety tips, as culled from Turkington’s book Protect Yourself from Contaminated Food & Drink:
• When buying meat or poultry, look for these signs of potential problems: Frozen meat – white or bleached color (indicates spoilage); poultry – soft, flabby flesh, purplish or greenish color, abnormal odor, stickiness under wings and joints, darkened wing tips. Be sure to examine the packaging as well.
• When you get home, unload the perishables first, and put them in the refrigerator or freezer immediately. If you’re going to store meat and poultry in the refrigerator, it’s best to leave them in the original packaging (assuming it’s clean and not torn). This way, you can keep from contaminating them. Follow any handling recommendations listed on the product, and keep meat and poultry in their packaging until just before you use them.
• Never store any food directly under a sink or in cabinets that have water, drain or heating pipes passing through – food stored here can attract insects and rodents through openings that are hard to seal. Always keep food off the floor and away from cleaning supplies.
• Refrigeration is important to keep food safe to eat. While cooling doesn’t kill bacteria, it stops them from multiplying – and the fewer they are, the less likely you are to get sick. Allow air to circulate around refrigerated items. To keep bacteria that’s in the air out of the food, always wrap food stored in the refrigerator.
• If you’re freezing meat or poultry in its original package for longer than two months, you should overwrap the package with airtight heavy-duty foil, plastic wrap or freezer paper – or place the package inside a plastic bag.
Meat or poultry that has been defrosted in the refrigerator may be refrozen before or after cooking. If you thawed it by another method, you need to cook it before refreezing.
Here are some cool safe-freezing tips:
• Keep temperature 0°F or below in the freezer.
• Don’t stack foods as the cold air needs to reach the center to chill foods fast.
• Freeze poultry and ground meat that won’t be used in one or two days. Freeze other meat if it won’t be used within four to five days.
• If you’re going to store meat or poultry longer than two or three months in the freezer, overwrap store packaging with clean plastic wrap or aluminum foil for added protection from freezer burn.
And one last – but certainly not the least – handy tip: Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before beginning food preparation, after handling raw meat/poultry, etc., after touching animals, after using the bathroom, after changing diapers and after blowing your nose. A good scrub with plain old soap and water will kill about 96 percent of all the bad viruses and bacteria on your skin. And this is the way to wash your hands: Rub your hands briskly for 30 seconds in moderately warm water. Take note that the rubbing is more important than the type of soap (even mild is great) that you use.
Also, remember to wash your cutting board and utensils with hot soapy water before touching food with them.
Happy – and – safe eating!