Most Consumers Don’t Use Food Thermometers Despite Importance to Food Safety

BY LYDIA ZURAW | FEBRUARY 9, 2015

A couple of weeks ago, I was having dinner with my parents. My dad was making chicken and asked me what temperature he needed to cook it to. After all, working for Food Safety News does qualify me as the food-safety expert of the family.

“165 degrees F,” I told him.

“What if it’s barely pink?” he countered, goading me.

“I don’t care what it looks like,” I said. “Use the thermometer!”

I try not to be this pedantic about food safety around anyone who doesn’t have to love me unconditionally (it can be annoying, I know), but one of the most important tools for food safety is the thermometer.

Two of the four consumer steps toward food safety — Clean, Separate, Cook, and Chill — rely on temperature control.

When food contaminated with pathogens such as Salmonella, E. coli or Listeria reaches consumers’ kitchens, cooking to certain minimum temperatures can kill the bugs. Keeping leftovers below 40 degrees F hinders bacteria growth.

The safe minimum internal temperatures vary by food. All poultry, casseroles and leftovers should be heated to 165 degrees F. Ground meats and egg dishes need to be at least 160 degrees F. Fresh beef, pork, veal, lamb and ham should reach 145 degrees F and then rest for at least three minutes. Fish should also be cooked to 145 degrees F.

“Using thermometers is the only way to really know that your food is thoroughly cooked — that it has reached a temperature to destroy any harmful bacteria that could possibly be there — and thermometer use is also important in the refrigerator in chilling,” says Christine Bruhn, retired director of the Center for Consumer Research at the University of California.

But few consumers actually use a thermometer to check the doneness of meat, poultry and seafood, or to check the temperature in their refrigerators.

“They might do it on a roast, they might do it on whole chicken,” Bruhn says. “They don’t do it on the smaller chicken parts, they seldom do it on burgers, and even on steaks they are relying on visual indicators. They’re not really verifying the temperature on the inside.”

How many use thermometers for cooking?

Self-reported use of thermometers has increased from 33 percent in 1998 to 53 percent in 2010. This seems like great progress, but Bruhn warns that people may only use thermometers on large hunks of meat or poultry, such as a pot roast or the Thanksgiving turkey, and not necessarily in everyday cooking. People might also say they use thermometers even though they don’t just because they know they’re supposed to.

According to a survey conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 46 percent of participants said they never use a thermometer when cooking chicken parts and 66 percent said they never use one when cooking or grilling hamburgers.

Last year, while studying various aspects of chicken preparation in consumer homes, Bruhn found that only 5 percent of participants used a thermometer without prompting from the researchers, and only about a third agreed to do so when prompted.

From there, researchers found that 40 percent of the chicken in the study was undercooked, especially when it was grilled or barbecued.

According to another study published last month and conducted by RTI International, Tennessee State University and Kansas State University, 62 percent of consumers own a food thermometer, but less than 10 percent of them actually use it to check for doneness in all poultry.

Addressing barriers to thermometer use in cooking

Bruhn says that the main barriers to thermometer use are the idea that using a thermometer implies inexperience and the thought that cooking meat and poultry to the recommended minimum temperatures degrades taste.

Most home cooks use visual indicators such as color, firmness, clear juices or shrinkage, but these aren’t accurate indicators of doneness. For example, a chicken breast could turn white, but still be less than 165 degrees F.

Many recipes refer to these visual cues or to cooking time. Bruhn says that time is only reliable if there is consistency across everybody’s frying pan or oven and the food always starts out at the same temperature.

To get more consumers to rely on thermometers, anyone writing recipes for a book, magazine, or blog should include the temperature recommendations, Bruhn says.

“That could so simply be added to a recipe” and would mean consumers wouldn’t have to keep all the correct temperatures in their head, she adds.

Another way to show people that using thermometers isn’t an amateur move is for “role models” to use them. Bruhn’s hope is to reach celebrity chefs and their producers to stress the impact they could have by “modeling correct and safe behavior for the public.”

As for the thought that your chicken or burger will be too dry if you cook it to the recommended temperatures, many food-safety experts argue otherwise.

For chicken, “We found that at 165, it’s still moist and juicy,” Bruhn says. “If you want it to be dry, bring it up to 180 or something like that.”

As for ground beef, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says that burgers can still be juicy when cooked to 160 degrees F, regardless of color.

If you still have your heart set on that rare or medium-rare burger, go ahead and order it, but just know that it’s a risk, Bruhn says.

“That’s one of the dilemmas I face as an educator: seeing people doing things that I would not do. But if they consciously choose to take that risk, then I need to seal my lips,” she says. “If they don’t know any better, then I can find a gentle way to let them know it’s a high-risk action.”

How many use thermometers for chilling?

In that FDA survey, 55 percent of consumers said their refrigerator didn’t have a built-in thermometer. Only 21 percent of respondents said they put a thermometer in the fridge to check its temperature.

People tend to trust that the refrigerator is going to be cold enough when relying on its factory settings. This might be OK, Bruhn said, but things can change over time.

In her studies, Bruhn says she’s seen around 13 percent of consumers’ refrigerators with temperatures above 45 degrees F (the recommendation is 40).

Bruhn says she would love to see fridge manufacturers “be more assertive” in including thermometers in their products. Some of the high-end ones do, but not all, and she wonders about those who can’t afford one of those.

“Food-safety standards should be made available to all income groups,” Bruhn says.

And, in her chicken study, only a quarter of participants knew the correct temperature for their fridges. When adding thermometers to refrigerators, Bruhn suggests that manufacturers include a scale to indicate whether the appliance is in the safe range.

“We don’t all need to have numbers bouncing around our head, but we need to know where we are,” she says.

Study: E. Coli From Feedlots Can Contaminate Produce by Air

BY http://www.foodsafetynews.com/ NEWS DESK | DECEMBER 26, 2014

New research finds that E. coli O157:H7 can spread more than a tenth of a mile downwind from a cattle feedlot onto nearby produce.

In the study, first author Elaine D. Berry of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s U.S. Meat Animal Research Center and her colleagues sampled leafy greens growing in nine plots (three each at 60, 120, and 180 meters downwind from the cattle feedlot at the research center) over a two-year period.

The rate of contamination with the pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 declined with distance. There was an average positive sample 3.5 percent of the time at 60 meters and 1.8 percent at 180 meters.

The findings suggest that current buffer-zone guidelines of 120 meters (400 feet) from a feedlot may be inadequate.

Transmission of the pathogens is thought to be airborne. The researchers found E. coli in air samples at 180 meters from the feedlot, though the instruments were not sensitive enough to pick up E. coli O157:H7.

The highest levels of contamination on the produce were in August and September of 2012 after several weeks of very little rainfall and several days of high temperatures, conditions that appear to aid airborne transport of bacteria.

The research was published ahead of print in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

Chinese Lawmakers Mull Tougher Penalties for Breaking Food Safety Laws

BY http://www.foodsafetynews.com/  NEWS DESK | DECEMBER 23, 2014

The bi-monthly legislative session of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, being held Monday through Saturday in Beijing, is considering a draft revision to China’s food safety laws that would include detention for offenders.

Anyone who adds inedible substances to foods could go to jail for up to 15 days, states the submitted bill language. Current law mandates fines and certificate revocation for such violations, so “administrative detention” (imposed by police without court proceedings) is considered a tough penalty in China.

Those suspected of committing more serious offenses would be subject to China’s criminal law. Lawmakers had argued in August that the current food safety law is not clear about what action should be considered a criminal offense.

The draft bill also adds punishments for adding expired material or additives to products. A high-profile event occurred back in July when Shanghai Husi Food Co., which supplied McDonald’s and KFC, was found to be using reprocessed expired meat in its products. Six of the company’s senior executives were subsequently arrested.

The fine for producers would be 10 to 20 times the total product value if worth more than 10,000 yuan ($1,600). For products worth less than that, the fine would be 50,000 to 100,000 yuan (approximately $8,000 to $16,000). Production certificates would be revoked for serious offenses.

The latest version of the bill also allows for the prosecution of anyone who leases out production sites and allows illegal activities on their property, but it exempts distributors from punishment if they can show they followed procedure and were unaware of suppliers’ practices.

The bill would also require producers to label products that contain any genetically modified ingredients. A member of the committee noted that the public needs more specific labeling information since general awareness of the issue is not as high as it could be.

“Labeling does not mean that genetically modified foods are unsafe, but the public might not see it that way,” said Xu Weigang.

Shigella

From http://www.foodsafety.gov/

Shigellosis is an infectious disease caused by Shigella. The Shigella germ is a family of bacteria that can cause diarrhea in humans. People with shigellosis shed the bacteria in their feces. The bacteria can spread from an infected person to contaminate water or food, or directly to another person. Getting just a little bit of the Shigella bacteria into your mouth is enough to cause symptoms.

The illness is most commonly seen in child-care settings and schools. Shigellosis is a cause of traveler’s diarrhea, from contaminated food and water in developing countries.

Sources	Contaminated food or water, or contact with an infected person. Foods most often associated with Shigellaoutbreaks are salads and sandwiches that involve a lot of hand contact in their preparation, and raw vegetables contaminated in the field.
Incubation Period	1 -7 days (usually 1-3 days)
Symptoms	Sudden abdominal cramping, fever, diarrhea that may be bloody or contains mucus, nausea and vomiting
Duration of Illness	2-7 days
Who’s at Risk?	Children, especially toddlers aged 2-4
What Do I Do?	Drink plenty of fluids and get rest. Stay home from school or work to avoid spreading the bacteria to others. If you cannot drink enough fluids to prevent dehydration, call your doctor.
How Do I Prevent It?	Wash hands with soap carefully and frequently, especially after going to the bathroom, after changing diapers, and before preparing foods or beverages. Dispose of soiled diapers properly Disinfect diaper changing areas after using them. Keep children with diarrhea out of child care settings while they are ill. Supervise handwashing of toddlers and small children after they use the toilet. Do not prepare food for others while ill with diarrhea Avoid swallowing water from ponds, lakes, or untreated pools. When traveling in developing countries, drink only treated or boiled water, and eat only cooked hot foods or fruits you peel yourself.

Caramel Apples Linked to Multi-State Listeria Outbreak

4 illnesses and 2 deaths reported in MN

From http://www.foodsafetynews.com/ BY NEWS DESK | DECEMBER 18, 2014

The Minnesota Departments of Health and Agriculture are working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on a multi-state outbreak of Listeriosis linked to eating caramel apples.

Four people in Minnesota have become ill as part of this outbreak. All were hospitalized, and two died. All were adults ages 59 to 90 years. They became ill in late October and November.

Health officials are warning consumers who may have purchased any pre-packaged, commercially produced caramel apples, including caramel apples with other toppings such as nuts, chocolate, and sprinkles, to not eat them until more information from the investigation becomes available.

The Minnesota cases purchased caramel apples from Cub Foods, Kwik Trip, and Mike’s Discount Foods, which carried Carnival brand and Kitchen Cravings brand caramel apples. These two brands are no longer available for purchase at retail locations; however, health officials are concerned that persons who purchased them may still have them in their homes.

The investigation is evolving, and other caramel apple brands and locations may also be impacted. Minnesota officials are working with national partners to determine the scope of products impacted. Consumers should not eat any brands of commercially produced pre-packaged caramel apples until additional information is available. At this time, no illnesses related to this outbreak have been linked to apples that are not caramel-coated and not pre-packaged.

Listeriosis is a serious infection caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. The disease affects primarily older adults, pregnant women, newborns, and persons with weakened immune systems. On average, seven cases of Listeriosis are reported in Minnesota each year.

Symptoms of Listeriosis include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions. Infected pregnant women may experience only a mild, flu-like illness; however, infections during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage or stillbirth, premature delivery, or infection of the newborn. Symptoms begin from three to 70 days after consuming the bacteria.

Anyone who believes they may have become ill with Listeriosis should contact their health care provider.

Spending Bill Bans ‘Chinese Chicken’ From Federal Meal Programs

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/ BY LYDIA ZURAW | DECEMBER 16, 2014

A provision included in the $1.1-trillionspending bill Congress passed last week and which is now headed to the president’s desk prevents poultry processed in China from being used in the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program and Summer Food Service Program (Section 736 of Division A).

Four Chinese poultry-processing plants have been approved to export cooked chicken to the U.S. as long as the chicken was raised and slaughtered in the U.S., Canada or Chile.

The ban on including such products in federal meal programs was introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and cosponsored by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME). Both are members of the House Appropriations Committee and added the amendment to the Fiscal Year 2015 agriculture appropriations bill last spring.

Congressional leaders included the provision in the omnibus spending bill that funds the federal government through Sept. 30, 2015, the end of FY 2015.

“Banning Chinese chicken from school meals is a common-sense step to protect our kids,” DeLauro said in a statement. “China’s food safety record is atrocious, yet last year USDA deemed poultry processed in China to be as safe as poultry processed here. Children are among the most susceptible to foodborne illness. We cannot take unnecessary risks with their health.”

Nancy Huehnergarth told Food Safety News that she and Bettina Siegel, co-sponsors of a Change.org petitionto keep poultry processed in China off U.S. plates, were relieved to see the provision carry over into the omnibus bill.

“We’re really happy,” Huehnergarth said. “It’s exactly what we were hoping for.”

In garnering nearly 329,000 signatures, the petition showed strong grassroots support for the ban. The team plans to declare victory once the president signs the bill, which he has indicated he plans to do.

China, on the other hand, is not so pleased because of provisions in the U.S. bill that “discriminate against Chinese companies, violate the principles of fair trade and send the wrong signal,” International Business Times reported. In addition to the poultry ban, the bill also restricts purchase of IT systems produced in China.

“China urges U.S. to take effective measures to correct the erroneous practice and create a favorable environment for the healthy development of Sino-US economic and trade relations,” stated Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman Sun Jiwen.

FDA Says BPA-Lined Containers Are Safe, But New Study Raises Concerns

From: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/ BY NEWS DESK | DECEMBER 11, 2014

It might be easy to dismiss the latest study about spiking one’s blood pressure by drinking soy milk from cans lined with bisphenol A (more commonly known as BPA). After all, serious hypertension is more likely to occur from the sodium contained in whatever food or beverage is in the can.

But the new Korean soy milk study, involving taking the blood pressure of a relatively small number of women divided into groups — with one drinking soy milk from cans with BPA and the other from glass bottles — is a media hit in the U.S.

Not getting much attention is the release of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) 2014 safety assessment for BPA, which continues to give it the green light for use in food packaging. FDA looked at approximately 300 studies involving BPA that were conducted from November 2009 to May 2013.

The agency concluded that BPA is safe at current levels of exposure from food contact uses in cans and plastic bottles. FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) conducted the safety assessment.

Two years ago, FDA did ban the use of BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups used by small children. And Canada banned the substance from children’s products in 2010 after declaring that it is toxic.

The North American Metal Packaging Alliance Inc. (NAMPA), representing the nation’s canning industry, welcomed the news clearing the way for continued use of BPA.

“The comprehensive review by FDA scientists should dispel any concerns regarding the safe use of BPA epoxy resins in canned food,” said Dr. John M. Rost, who chairs NAMPA. “Agency researchers could not have been more clear or definitive in their conclusion that an adequate margin of safety exists for BPA.”

However, the Korean study is the first to suggest that BPA can quickly raise one’s blood pressure. Researchers in Seoul tested urine and blood pressure levels shortly after two groups of women drank soy milk, one group from glass bottles and the other from cans with BPA linings.

Published in Hypertension, a journal of the American Heart Association, the Korean study raises questions about whether people with high blood pressure should avoid plastic containers and cans altogether because the women who drank soy milk from the cans experienced blood-pressure spikes and BPA was found in their urine.

BPA linings in food containers have been used since the 1960s.

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2014/12/consumer-food-safety-education-conference-to-be-broadcast-live/?utm_content=buffer58c09&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer#.VH21KIvF-So

Consumer Food Safety Education Conference to be Broadcast Live

BY NEWS DESK | DECEMBER 2, 2014

The 2014 Consumer Food Safety Education Conference organized by the Partnership for Food Safety Education takes place in Arlington, VA, this week, but anyone unable to make the sessions in person can tune in to watch some of them live online.

Studies Find Reusable Produce Containers Often Contaminated

Courtesy and Published by www.foodsafetynews.com

BY JAMES ANDREWS | NOVEMBER 20, 2014

Reusable plastic containers used by farmers to ship fresh produce from farms to grocery stores have gained wide usage in the last decade, effectively replacing corrugated boxes with a more environmentally friendly alternative.

But two studies — one in Canada and one in the U.S. — have found serious problems with the general sanitation and cleanliness of those containers, raising concerns about possible food safety risks. They say the containers — which some retailers now require growers to use — could transfer pathogens from contaminated produce onto clean produce when not sanitized thoroughly.

First, in 2013 and again this year, Canadian researchers found evidence of fecal bacteria left over in containers said to have been sanitized. University of Guelph food science professor Keith Warriner, Ph.D., found contamination of innocuous strains of coliform E. coli on containers, suggesting that the company’s sanitation process was inadequate, he said.

Judging the cleanliness of the containers using U.K. food safety standards of food surfaces, Warriner determined that 43 percent of containers failed sanitary standards when inspected this year.

Now, in California, a soon-to-be-published companion study found similar results. University of California Davis extension research specialist Trevor Suslow, Ph.D., found that a “significant number” of produce containers exceeded reasonable expectations for cleanliness and failed to meet expected microbiological standards for surface sanitation.

Over a six-day period, Suslow’s team inspected produce containers after they had been sanitized but before they had been given to growers to pack for shipments. The system is arranged so that growers rent out the containers from the manufacturer and empty containers are sent back to the manufacturer to undergo a sanitation process before being packed with produce once again.

But Suslow and Warriner want to raise awareness in the produce industry that these sanitation processes might not be getting the job done.

“Although we’re aware there’s a cleaning and sanitizing process, it appears to be inconsistent and we found a number of indicators of uncleanliness in our study,” Suslow told Food Safety News.

After swabbing container surfaces for bacterial indicators of uncleanliness, Suslow found 38 percent of samples to carry 100,000 bacterial cells, while eight percent had more than one million. That, he said, wasn’t acceptable.

One problem with the containers is that they have hinges and other pinch-points where food can get caught and stay trapped for a long time. The studies found numerous instances of mold and spoilage in containers that had undergone the sanitization process.

While no cases of illness have been directly connected to produce containers, Suslow said that it would be very difficult to trace an illness back to something as unsuspecting as a plastic container.

“Taking a systems approach to produce safety, while there may be no recognized outbreaks linked to containers, we see a lot of sporadic illnesses where you never learn the cause,” he said.

Warriner said that his study also found a noticeable increase in broken containers between the first and second years of his study. Unfortunately, he said, growers are sometimes in a position where they’re eager to take any available container, as it’s the only way they can ship out product.

In the Canadian study, Warriner found that the company providing containers to growers in Canada did not have a washing facility in the country. As a result, the containers were supposed to be shipped back to Chicago to undergo cleaning after delivery.

In the case of the unclean containers returning to Canada, Warriner could only speculate as to what was occurring:

“There’s one of three things going on,” he said. “One, they’re going to Chicago but not being sanitized; two, they’re not going to Chicago; or three, they’re going to Chicago, being sanitized, and somehow meeting the cleanliness standards of the company.”

For now, the companies have no cleanliness standards on public record, Warriner said.

Warriner also questioned the silence of retailers on the topic.

“What’s interesting is that although retailers have very strong scrutiny about food products, they haven’t really paid attention to the food safety concern here,” he said.

Another problem Warriner found: sticker labels from previous produce shipments would often remain stuck inside the containers. In one case, a label for products grown in Mexico made its way to a farm in Canada.

With two independent studies raising such similar concerns about reusable containers, Suslow said that he hopes the container manufacturers will recalculate their cleaning and sanitization processes. In the meantime, growers and handlers should implement their own procedures for cleaning the containers, he said, and possibly testing the containers with rapid bacterial swabs themselves.

Suslow said that because it’s impossible to completely control for contamination when growing produce in an open environment, fresh produce shouldn’t come into direct contact with reusable containers.

“Contamination of these containers is something you should be able to control, and if you can’t, you have to start looking for other options,” he said.

Photo of soiled plant material inside a reusable produce container courtesy of Trevor Suslow

Classic Roast Turfkey with Red Wine Baste

From: www.bbcgoodfood.com

Ingredients

1 onion, quartered
fresh bay leaves, to flavour and serve
4½ -5.6kg/10-12lb Bronze turkey, giblets removed
1 quantity of stuffing
85g butter, softened
1 whole nutmeg
10 rashers streaky bacon
glass red wine, such as Merlot

Method

1. Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Put the onion and a large sprig of bay in the cavity between the legs (drumsticks). Now pack half the stuffing into the neck end, pushing it towards the breast. Secure the neck skin in position with skewers and tie the turkey legs together at the top of the drumsticks to give a neat shape. Weigh the turkey and calculate cooking time at 20 mins per kilo, plus 90 mins. (You may need to use your bathroom scales.)
2. Put a large sheet of extra-wide foil in a large roasting tin, then put the turkey on top. Smear the breast with the butter, grate over half the nutmeg and season well. Cover the breast with bacon, pour over the wine, then loosely bring up the foil and seal well to make a parcel.
3. Roast in the oven, then 90 mins before the end of cooking, open the foil, discard the bacon, and drain off excess fat from the tin. Leaving the foil open, return the turkey to the oven to brown, basting with the juices several times. Then 30 mins before the end of cooking, put the sausage skewers (see link, right) and stuffing of your choice around the turkey or cook in a separate lightly oiled tin.
4. To test whether the turkey is cooked, push a skewer into the thickest part of the thigh – the juices should run clear. If they are pinkish, cook for 15 mins more, then test again. Transfer the turkey, stuffings and sausages to a platter, cover with foil, then a couple of tea towels and allow to rest for up to 30 mins before carving. This gives the juices time to settle back into the meat, ensuring that the turkey will be juicy. Garnish with sprigs of bay.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2006