The culprits
A variety of bacteria can cause food-borne illness; here are some of the most common:
Salmonella can be found in raw or undercooked poultry, meat, eggs, fish, and unpasteurized milk.
E. coli 0157:H7 can be found in raw or undercooked ground beef, unpasteurized milk, and unpasteurized apple cider.
Campylobacter jejuni can be found in raw or undercooked meat and poultry, unpasteurized milk, and untreated water.
Listeria monocytogenes can be found in raw or undercooked meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs, as well as in produce and unpasteurized milk products. It can also be found in deli meats, hot dogs, and soft cheeses (such as Brie, Camembert, and feta) as a result of recontamination.
Who's at risk?
Anyone can be affected by food-borne illness, but those at highest risk include pregnant women, young children, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems.
How to play it safe
There are several steps you can take to prevent food-borne illness:
Wash your hands before handling food. This prevents any bacteria that may be on your hands from contaminating the food. Also, wash your hands after handling raw meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and other products that may contain bacteria so that you don't cross-contaminate other foods.
Use separate cutting boards for raw meats and other foods. This prevents any bacteria in the raw foods from contaminating the other foods. For example, don't use the same cutting board to slice raw chicken and to prepare a salad. After cutting raw meat on a cutting board, disinfect the board by cleaning thoroughly with hot soapy water, disinfecting with chlorine bleach or another sanitizing solution, and then giving it a rinsing with clean water.
Get friendly with a thermometer. Most pathogenic bacteria can grow between 40°F and
140°F. Use a refrigerator thermometer (available at houseware stores) to make
sure the internal temperature of your refrigerator is below 40°F. Use a
cooking thermometer (available at houseware stores) to make sure foods are
cooked to the following internal temperatures:
| Ground beef (hamburgers, meatballs, meatloaf)
|
160°F
|
| Ground chicken or turkey
|
165°F
|
| Whole chicken or turkey
|
180°F
|
| White-meat poultry
|
170°F
|
| Dark-meat poultry
|
180°F
|
| Pork
|
160°-170°F
|
| Casseroles, egg dishes
|
160°F
|
| Reheated leftovers
|
165°F
|
Refrigerate cooked foods promptly. When refrigerating large portions of items such as soups and stews, refrigerate them in covered long, shallow pans, instead of deep pots. This will allow them to come down to a safe temperature more quickly.
Defrost frozen raw meats in the refrigerator
instead of on the counter or in the sink. This will allow the foods to stay at a safe temperature during the thawing process. (For quicker defrosting, thaw in the microwave and then cook promptly.) Place the frozen meat in a container to avoid meat drippings contaminating the refrigerator.
Buy safely packaged foods. Foods packaged in cans and other shelf-stable sealed containers are safe because of the packaging processes used. (However, avoid dented cans or jars in which the "pop-top" of the lid has already popped. Those items could be contaminated.)