Food Protection Trends - November 2009 - 794

Someone You Know at Risk for Foodborne Illness? identifies people at increased risk as seniors, pregnant women, children, and people with a weakened immune system (43). Written in a proactive way, readers are encouraged to “take control” to reduce the risk for foodborne disease. The reasons why people with specific health conditions are more vulnerable to foodborne illness is explained in a clear and understandable manner. Specific handling guidelines are provided for shopping, cold storage, safe thawing, proper food preparation, serving, and handling leftovers. The recommended temperature for the home refrigerator is specified at 40°F or colder, and readers are advised to cook ground meat to 160°F. Other publications by USDA provide specific recommendations consistent with current knowledge of foodborne illness. Food News for Consumers, for example, recommends that foods should be marinated in the refrigerator, foods should be cooked completely rather than partially cooked, held and reheated, and meat should be cooked to 160°F (31). Similarly, A Quick Consumer Guide to Safe Food Handling includes specific information as to temperature control and safe storage time (45). USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline, established in 1985, provides answers to consumer questions through a toll free telephone call, fact sheets, articles in educational publications such as Food News, and fact sheets available through the internet (47). Hotline representatives also respond to media calls, reaching an even larger audience. Reports of the hotline activities are posted periodically (46). Another USDA consumer publication, Preventing Foodborne Illness, provides detailed food handling information (44). Sections are devoted to safe shopping, storage, preparation, serving, and handling of leftovers. Escherichia coli O157:H7 is mentioned, and consumers are advised to cook ground beef to 160°F. Listeria is discussed and pregnant women are identified as being at increased risk for this pathogen. Those at high risk are advised to reheat processed meats. In 1991, the FDA also provided more comprehensive and specific consumer food safety guidelines. Preventing Foodborne Illness provides foodborne illness prevention tips, including sections on cleaning and cooking, safe storage with recommended storage times, symptoms and sources of bacteria and sources for additional information (3). The minimum recommended cooking temperatures for beef is 140°F. A higher temperature for ground beef is not advised. Although this document was reprinted and revised in 1997, a recommended end point cooking temperature for ground beef was not added. College textbooks published in the 1990s reflect a more comprehensive coverage of foodborne illness. Food Safety, by Julie Jones, includes a discussion of significantly more microbial pathogens than books from the previous decade, including Salmonella, Campylobacter jejuni, Toxoplasma gondii, Staphylococcus aureus, C. perfringens, Shigella, Escherichia coli, Trichinella spiralis, Bacillus cereus, Vibrio, Listeria monocytogenes, Yersinia enterocolitica, and others. Raw meat and meat products are identified as a source of Salmonella, C. perfringens, and L. monocytogenes. Jones notes that E. coli is a common resident of the intestinal tract of warmblooded animals. She notes that for many years it had been considered harmless; however, particular strains of E. coli were the cause of enteric disease in the 1980s, with soft cheeses and ground beef identified as the food sources. Sanitary handling to avoid cross-contamination, thorough cooking, and keeping foods out of the danger zone are specified as ways to reduce the probability of illness. Consumers indicate that they obtain safe handling information from cookbooks and magazines (35). A review of classic cookbooks, such as Better Homes and Gardens or Joy of Cooking, indicates that virtually all limit food handling information to culinary issues such as the temperature for roasts cooked to rare, medium, or well done. Even books published in the1990s and later, specializing in ground beef or grilling, address preference for degree of doneness rather than food safety considerations. There are exceptions. The 1997 edition of Joy of Cooking lists the recommended end point temperature of 160°F for meat loaf (page 722) but incorrectly advises consumers to cook ground beef to 155°F (page 646) (38). Further, readers are advised that risk is lessened by buying top-grade beef and grinding it themselves. This is a potentially risky practice, since the opportunity for cross contamination in the kitchen is high. Some cookbooks provide current, accurate information. The Complete Meat Cookbook, for example, recommends 160°F or 155°F for 15 seconds as the end point cooking temperature for ground beef (1). LANDMARK FOOD SAFETY EVENT A landmark event in food safety occurred in 1993. Consumption of undercooked hamburger contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 resulted in 501 illnesses, 151 hospitalizations, and 3 deaths (11). This outbreak received extensive publicity because the source of illness was a popular food and many victims were children. In 1994, USDA declared E. coli O157:H7 an adulterant in raw beef, and a program began to test for the pathogen in raw ground beef from federally inspected establishments and retail stores (15). In 1994, the public was advised to cook ground beef until it is brown and juices run clear; however, in 1997, FSIS revised this recommendation. Cooked ground beef color was demonstrated to be an inaccurate predictor of end point temperature. Consumers were advised to use a meat thermometer and cook to 160°F rather than rely on color. Since 1994, USDA has required safe food-handling labels on retail packages or raw and partially cooked meat and poultry products. The label advises consumers to refrigerate the product, avoid cross contamination, cook thoroughly, keep hot food hot, and handle leftovers properly. Interview and survey data indicate that 51% or more of consumers contacted recalled seeing the label. Of these, 79% or more remember reading the label, and 37% of these said they changed the way 794 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | NOVEMBER 2009

Food Protection Trends - November 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - November 2009