Food Protection Trends - November 2011 - (Page 706)

Ivan Parkin LectuRe Putting the Risk Back in Risk – Just Cook It! Manager (Microbiology), Science, Information & Risk Directorate Standards Branch, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Wellington, New Zealand Dr. Roger L. Cook Modern humans have been on the Earth for about 200,000 years during which they have been exposed to a constant barrage of hazards and risks that we have learned to avoid or control. Hence, the human race is still here today. However, our choices are often bewildering when it comes to managing exposure to risks. We choose to live on geological fault lines, below natural river and sea levels, and on tornado paths. The temptation of cheap land and breath-taking views is hard to resist. It is hardly surprising then that we make some extraordinary risk choices when it comes to food safety. Man has supposedly have used controlled fire for cooking for most, if not all, the time they have been on earth. The ancient cults and religious groups in civilizations Mediterranean/Middle east cradle prohibited unsafe food. While the biblical commands (Exodus, Deuteronomy & Leviticus) and Hebrew laws (Terepath and Kosher) have been around for a small proportion of that, their authors share one important characteristic — they knew what was required to prepare safe food even though they knew little about the hazards themselves, and it was their raison d’être to educate us by oral tradition. Understanding of food safety was advanced scientifically by the Romans and Greeks until the dark ages fell in Europe (~460AD) prohibited non-theological scholarship. Fortunately, the Middle Eastern cradle again 706 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | NOVEMBER 2011 enlightened the world with the food safety prohibitions clearly stated in the Holy Quran (Surah Al-Baquarah and Surah Al-Ma’idah). However, the foods we now eat and the food service industry differ significantly since those early days. We now live in a brave new world of feedlots for cattle and barns for chickens; chilled meat and packaged salads; and maximized profits and low cost food “by right”. Culinary fashion (“idiocy”) is rife with the consumption of raw milk and raw meat; the sources of illness that lead to the ancient prohibitions and laws. We all thought that the 1993 under-cooked hamburger outbreak and consequential public visibility and changes to U.S. law (e.g., the Pathogen Reduction Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point “Mega-Reg” rule) would have reminded us of the dangers of such foods, but no, 18 years on and still too many ask for or cook rare hamburgers and demand raw drinking milk. So now, some 200,000 years on and after 100 years of IAFP, what has gone wrong? Do the young and impressionable still listen to their grandparents, read and be directed by religious tomes and the Women’s Weekly or attend Scouts? Do I hear mind-grinding thoughts of South Park, X-Box, individualist activities such as text messages, Facebook, triathlons, and, of course, fast food? Does the sense of community and social responsibility still exist or have we all become individual civil libertarians — yes, cries the crowd, lets all be individuals. This is the “epoch” of me, me, me! Is it our communal right to be individuals, or should we truly and diligently heed the warnings from our ancestors and take responsibility for food safety? I argue that we as individuals, as caregivers and as key members of the community should. And much of it is not difficult. JUST COOK IT! Some will say that it is too easy to apportion all the blame on the consumer — easy targets. Perhaps they are right. But then it is also far too easy to absolve consumers of any responsibility by demanding everything of producers and processors. In reality, we must all acknowledge that this is a shared responsibility of consumers and industry, and that government must ensure that the responsibility is shared

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - November 2011

Food Protection Trends - November 2011
Contents
Sustaining Members
Food for Thought from Your President
Commentary from the Executive Director
A Comparison of Overall Versus Duty-specific Food Poisoning Prevention Knowledge among Restaurant Food Handlers
Relationship between Cleaning Practices and Microbiological Contamination in Domestic Kitchens
IAFP 2011 in Review
Award Winners
bioMérieux Industry – Black Pearl Award Winner
Ivan Parkin Lecture – Roger Cook
John H. Silliker Lecture – Jorgen Schlundt
Travel Award for State or Local Health or State Agricultural Department Employees
Student Travel Scholarships
Session Summaries
Executive Board Meeting Topics
Minutes of the 2011 Annual Business Meeting
Committee Minutes
Executive Board Response to Committee Recommendations
Silent Auction R esults
Exhibitors of IAFP 2011
IAFP 2012 Award Nominations
New Members
What’s Happening in Food Safety
Industry Products
Coming Events
Advertising Index
Journal of Food Protection Table of Contents
Booklet Order Form
Membership Application

Food Protection Trends - November 2011