I start each class with a review of  some CDC statistics.  Is it part of the ServSafe curriculum? No. Why do I do it?  One simple answer, I want my students to understand how easy it is to have a positive impact on the safety of the food they are serving and why personal hygiene is so important.

I am glad to see news media reporting on the recent story from the CDC discussing Norovirus.  According to the CDC, Norovirus outbreaks are more prevalent between November and April.  They have also recently discovered a new strain in Australia however they do not know what impact this new strain will have on outbreaks in the US.  Informing the public that the “stomach flu” is really Gastroenteritis, most often from food, is the big take away here.  

Protect others:

Here is what I tell my students.  According to the 2011 CDC estimates for domestically acquired foodborne illness, 58% of reported and identified cases are Norovirus.  What is the easiest way to prevent the spread of a virus, I ask? Through proper personal hygiene, especially, hand washing.  Only a small amount of Norovirus can make someone ill.  Heat treating food will kill the virus.  That is why we should avoid bare and gloved hand contact with food that will be consumed without further cooking.  Wait, did I say gloved hand contact as well.  Yes is did!  Imagine this: I go to the bathroom, don’t wash my hands. I enter the kitchen and stick my hand in the box of gloves.  I have now potentially contaminated the entire box with feces.  Did I mention last week I had “the stomach flu”, a hum, possibly Norovirus.  Confess: How many times have you seen someone not use gloves for a single use.  In my opinion they are the most abused tool in the kitchen.  But we will save a discussion on gloves for another post.  

Protect yourself:

You go out to eat with friends.  They recommend the spot.  You walk in and see some tell tale signs that the establishment may not be as clean as you hoped.  You don’t want to say anything to your friends so you look at the menu and wonder, what would be the safest thing to order?  A salad? The soup? Fried Shrimp basket?

What do you think?  My vote is all for the fried food.  Now is not the time to be concerned about the waistline.  Foodhandlers are less likely to touch hot fried food with hands.

Also, please do not ever get fruit in your drink.  If you ever worked hospitality you know that the lemons and limes are often cut in less than desirable conditions.

Employers:

Train your staff.  The cost of training well outweighs the cost of customers that you may lose when they see staff using poor practices.

Can you take the online course and receive certification?

Yes, you can. But…

I received a phone call today from someone stating they only need to take the exam.  “That is fine, I can proctor your ServSafe® exam”,  I said.  Then I asked, “What jurisdiction are you planning on working and will you be needing your county card?”  His answer was Baltimore County and “Yes” I will be getting my card. After informing him that since he is not taking classroom training I can not issue a training hours letter needed by all the local counties requiring a food safety manager on duty.  This means that he will need to pay for the class again.  He could have received his certificate but without the training hours letter he would not have been able to receive his card.

There are many websites that offer online courses.  Unfortunately many do not openly tell you that you should check to make sure if online food safety manager training is approved.  If you are planning on using your ServSafe certificate in Baltimore County or City, Prince Georges, Howard or Montgomery counties you will need to take classroom training from an inter-jurisdictionally approved instructor.   All other locations can take an online course but you still need to take the exam using a ServSafe® approved proctor.

Can you take the online Exam?

Yes, the online exam is a proctored exam and is accepted in all Maryland jurisdictions.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Sue at 410-382-4325.  If you need training please visit our website here for schedule.

Lets start with statistics.  According to the 2011 CDC estimates for domestically acquired illness, Norovirus is responsible for 58 % or 5.5 million cases a year.  See full report here.

According to the CDC, “Outbreaks of norovirus illness have also occurred in restaurants, cruise ships, schools, banquet halls, summer camps, and even at family dinners. These are all places where people often eat food handled or prepared by others.”  Why then all of the focus on new manufacturing regulations under the Food Safety Modernization act by the FDA?

I believe the answer is to prevent and reduce major outbreaks.  However, based on the statistics it is my opinion that if there was more regulation on training food handlers we would see a dramatic decrease in the over all numbers.

Just the other day,  a friend that generally smirks at my steadfast demand for food safety  finally understands why I have such high standards.  At a local grocery chain he was purchasing shrimp.  At this particular store the deli counter employees assist in the seafood department as well. The deli / seafood person came to the seafood side wearing gloves. They reached in with the gloved hand and placed the shrimp in a bag.  He started to walk away when all my speeches  about glove use must have started ringing in his head.  He wondered, “if she didn’t change her gloves before helping me I wonder if she will change them now.”  He watched as she walked right back to the lunch counter and started slicing lunch meat.  He indicated she even saw him watching her and apparently it never occurred to her to wash her hands and change the gloves.

Was this employee never trained?

Did the employer assume hand washing is common sense?

Did she just not understand the risk she created because it was never explained properly?

My guess would be she was told about procedures but never taught proper methods and WHY it is so important to provide great service while preventing cross contamination by having good personal hygiene.  When I train managers and employees I make sure they understand WHY it is so important to engage in proper food safety techniques.

What can employers do today?  Train your staff!  It does not have to be the 16 hour food safety manager training course.  We offer a 2 hour employee training that is tailored to your facilities needs.

Leftovers are the best! Don’t you agree?

After all the wrapping paper has been cleaned up and the presents are being played with I love the thought of NOT cooking today.  Don’t get me wrong. I love to cook and make all the goodies that get the ooohhhs and aaaahhhhs.

But simply going to the fridge and getting out some leftovers for lunch is a glorious thing.

Here is my lunch choice for the day.  Shrimp Bisque and crunchy bread sticks.  I don’t know if it is because it took little effort to reheat or not but somehow it tastes better than it did yesterday!

Hoping you are enjoying some down time today as well.

Sue

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If you have ever had an ‘upset stomach’ or diarrhea after a holiday gathering you may have picked up a little too much unwanted bacteria.   Here are some simple tips to keep everyone feeling jolly all holiday season.

• If you don’t own a stem thermometer, purchase one.  Most grocery stores carry them for $4-6 dollars.
• Wash hands scrubbing for 15 seconds and do it often.
• Produce is commonly linked to E Coli and Salmonella as well as other bacteria. Wash all produce in slightly warmer water than temperature of produce before prepping and cutting.
• Store all cold at 41 degrees or below.  During service the following foods need special attention since they are perfect for bacterial growth, therefore you should keep on ice and under 70 degrees and discarded after 6 hours of service, if product is allowed to exceed 70 degrees discard after 2 hours:
  • Cut greens, cut tomatoes and cut melons.
  • Salads make with pasta, potatoes and seafood.
  • Leave small portions of ham or turkey out after a meal is served.
• Keep hot food hot. 135 degrees or above.
• Quickly refrigerate foods after service.
• Know your minimum temperatures:
  • Steaks, Pork, Seafood 145 Degrees
  • Ground Beef or Ground Pork 155 Degrees
  • All Poultry 165 Degrees
• Use a scoop or tongs for beverage ice.  Hands should never be used.  It is reported that 30-50% of healthy humans have Staphylococcus aureus in their nose.
• Avoid cross contamination – wash surfaces after each task.

These are the basics to keeping your food safe.  If you would like to continue the discussion or ask questions please join us on Facebook or Twitter

On November 21, 2012,  Rio Queen Citrus, Inc. of Mission, TX is recalled 840 cartons of 12/1 Dry Pints of Mexican cherry tomatoes in “Karol” brand boxes, because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.  The tomatoes were sold in SC and TX.  The tomatoes were also shipped to Capital City Fruit, Inc. of Norwalk, Iowa on November 10, 2012 and those tomatoes sold under the name Capital Brand are being recalled as well.

That’s right – we are talking stuffing today.

Everyone I know says that their mom makes the best stuffing.  I know I make mine just like my Mother did.  It is a very simple but compliments the traditional meal well.   Staled bread cubed, sage, thyme, parsley, marjoram,  salt and pepper, egg, celery and onion sauteed in butter until translucent,  add as much milk as necessary to make right consistency and that is it!   No oysters, nuts, carrots, mushrooms or anything else.  Oh, and the most important part – WE STUFF!

What is your family tradition when it comes to stuffing?  Please share and join the conversation on Facebook, I would love to hear from you.

Focus Products Group International, LLC announces the following voluntary recall.  Consumers should immediately stop using the Cocoa Latte™ Hot Drink Maker and contact the Focus Products Call Center for instructions on how to return the product and receive a replacement. The machines were sold under the following makes and model numbers:

• West Bend
  • 65032
• Back to Basics
  • CM300BK, CM300BKL, CM300BLSS, CM300BR, CM300BRBRL CM300BRL, CM300W

Focus Products of Lincolnshire, IL, is voluntarily recalling Cocoa Latte Hot Drink Makers because a small bushing inside the container has the potential to leach lead. To date, Focus Products has received no notice of any consumer complaints. However, the company’s independent testing revealed the potential problem, and out of an abundance of caution, the company voluntarily decided to recall the product.

The only affected products are the Cocoa Latte Hot Drink Makers, makes and model numbers listed above.  The Cocoa Grande™ Hot Drink Maker is NOT affected by this recall.  The Cocoa Latte Hot Drink Makers shipped nationwide starting in 2004 through October 12, 2012. The affected products come in a variety of colors with transparent pitchers, and were sold primarily in the United States through various retailers such as Bed Bath & Beyond, through various e-retailers such as Amazon.com and through Focus Products’ online store.

I often hear,” I have never made anyone sick before, all the food safety things you talk about are just over-kill”.

Really? You know this for sure? You have never made anyone ill?  Fact is, you may have never hospitalized anyone, but have any of your family or friends ever had diarrhea or cramping hours to days after eating dinner or next day brunch at your house?

I know there are volumes of information out there right now on Thanksgiving Food Safety.  Reality says you are not going to follow every food safety recommendation.  So, I have condensed them down to the  most important things you can do to keep your families belly’s feeling good this holiday.

Here it is  – cut and dry – believe me or not.  If you would like any items explained in greater detail, just ask.  I would be happy to explain the reasons behind why this is so important.

Preparation Safety:

Defrosting a large turkey in the refrigerator is the safest way.

Do NOT wash your turkey. For those of you that insist on rinsing the inside please properly clean and sanitize area (see bottom of post for how to do this) in and around sink and PLEASE put all clean dishes away first!

WASH your hands, before and after handling raw food.  Do not answer your phone then go back to touching food.  Do not dry your hands with a dish towel.  USE paper towels.  Consider where and what that nasty dish towel has touched before using it for a second purpose.

CLEANING is good – Cleaning and Sanitizing is better.  It doesn’t take that long.  Place a wiping cloth in a bowl with proper sanitizer and it makes the job easy.

Turkey Safety:

I know you are going to stuff.  I stuff my birds.  Here is how to do it safely.  Do not stuff the night before.  It is just too cold and will take too long to cook, drying out your turkey.  That is just a good cooking tip.  Prepare stuffing, stuff then cook immediately.

Purchase a stem thermometer for about $4-6 and make sure it is accurate.  (see bottom of post)  Next, ignore the little pop up button, they tend to overcook your bird and often under-cook the stuffing in a  bird.  Your bird is done when you check several internal areas and make sure they are 165° .  Check between breast and thigh, in center of stuffing and in the breast area.

DO NOT leave your turkey sitting on the table for everyone to walk by with their grubby little hands to “pick on” .  Slice some extra and leave smaller portion on table if you must.  Then throw out what has been left out after 4 hours.

The sides:

Put away within 2 hours or throw out after 4.  However, NEVER put away while over 70°, that is too warm and your refrigerator will be working too hard to keep everything else cool.

Remember these temperatures and keep bacterial growth to a minimum:

41 degrees or below for cold food.

70 – 120 degrees is when bacteria grow the fastest.  I like to think of it as they are having a dance party on your food!! AVOID leaving food in this air temperature during prepping or after cooking.

135 degrees if you are planning on holding your food in chaffing dishes or crock pot make sure it is at 135 or above.  Don’t forget that at 4 hours it needs to be thrown out or reheated to 165 degrees.

The next day:

If you expect to eat the left overs the next day put them away as soon as possible (within 2 hours).  Especially if you will be eating cold and not reheating to 165 ° or over.

Plan meals that will require reheating, that way if you did make some mistakes yesterday  you can maybe correct them today by cooking again to 165 °

Cleaning and Sanitizing:

Areas within 5 feet of where you had raw meat or poultry juices need special attention.  It takes 5 steps: Wipe off excess debris, Wash with a detergent, Rinse with clean water, Sanitize with a solution of 1 1/2 teaspoons of bleach in one gallon of water  and allow this solution to air dry on surface before proceeding.

Use different clean wiping towel for each step above.  Single use paper towels are best.

Making sure you have a working thermometer.

 Place in a glass of ice that is just covered with water.  It should read 32°, if it does not, there is usually a nut on the back that you can turn to make it read correctly.  Most came with a sleeve that had a tool on it.

Have good personal hygiene, avoid cross contamination, check temperatures and reduce bacteria on surfaces by cleaning and sanitizing.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving, be food safe and your family will thank you!!