Food Safety

[WadePatton]

It's no joking matter for sure, but I'm satisfied that it can be quite over done.

This is the thread where we talk about it. About your experiences with food-borne sickness and circumstances that may have contributed.

About "recommendations" vs. reality (old school reality, not the new one).

Hell i've got books that recommend BOILING perfectly well-preserved canned goods before eating them. total bullshit.

that's just a start.

But here's my lil' ole hickabilly shakedown:

the more people involved in the processing of your food stuffs, the more threat of human and natural contaminents. wash and cook accordingly

the less, the better. eg:i pick my mater and eat it. no washing of hands or fruit, no problem. i can't give me what i don't have. (part of the humanure philosophy as well.)

problems are usually related to (without getting too technical):

improper mixing of utensils/surfaces where uncooked servings pick up contaminants from raw meats or such. cross-contamination-don't do it.

improper handling of foods where conditions favorable for nasties to populate them are allowed to exist. the old time at temp rule, often violated in "family settings" where foods are left on the table too long. what's the range? 40-140F something like that. use a thermometer and some smarts.

food that is "off" being cooked anyway...i've heard of it. can't imagine actually doing it. i have a nose-and that's all it takes. sniff sniff.

besides, a real Chef tastes everything and should become sick himself if he lets bad food out.

Food sickness is awful and can be deadly-yes, but let us not be Chicken Little about it.

Especially at home.

[jitahs]

When you go to a party with big bowls of chips and other vittles that everyone touches including little snot-nosed illness-factory kids and guys picking their asses before triple fondling the entire bowl to get the biggest chips possible?

That's the wrong party.

[zetroc]

"Wait, this is the water I thawed the chicken in."

[rec head]

"Wait, this is the water I thawed the chicken in."

Isn't that just called broth?

[rmplum]

This is all I have to contribute

lemon_helmet_cat.jpg

[jitahs]

Wiggo at the Tour.

[maunahaole]

Wiggo has more luxurious facial hair.

[jitahs]

I used to see mice upstairs...it was awesome:

Health department inspectors found that Tu Lan, the famous and sometimes infamous establishment nestled in the gritty Sixth Street neighborhood south of Market Street, stored food at improper temperatures, didn't have proper hand-washing stations, was crawling with cockroaches and mice and wasn't bleaching its cleaning cloths.

Tu Lan closed for health violations - SFGate

[sonny]

the more people involved in the processing of your food stuffs, the more threat of human and natural contaminents. wash and cook accordingly

the less, the better. eg:i pick my mater and eat it. no washing of hands or fruit, no problem. i can't give me what i don't have. (part of the humanure philosophy as well.)

very much my experience as well. i've lived in several situations w/ intermittent or no refrigeration. if its a whole food and you cooked it, your sniffer will provided as much safety net as you need.
heck its probably still fine. i'm not adverse to slightly fermented beans--sorry!

if packed, processed, cooked, stored, or dispensed by another party, all diligence is well, due.

[Too Tall]

Good thread Wade, I doubt we plebes have any expertise other than good common sense to share.
FWIIW most of the US Govt info. printed around WWII that teaches proper food handling, jarring and canning is a basis.
Once you get the hang of it most food stuff can be prepared in many unconventional ways such as using a dish washer on sani-cycle to perfectly poach salmon and not get 250 people sick. Ask me how. You've opened a large topic, interested to see where this goes.

F.Y.I. everything you thought you knew about food safety is invalid in France.

[randonneur]

F.Y.I. everything you thought you knew about food safety is invalid in France.

China too. The chinese markets in town are always getting warnings/violations for the city health officials for the hanging bbq ducks/pigs/etc in the window. Needs to be refrigerated they say, not at room temp. There's definitely some cultural biases to the regs.

[randonneur]

personally, i'm pretty lax about food safety. the wife, who's worked in a few kitchens in her time (vs my Dunkin' donuts experience) is always staring at me mouth agape while i cook... I mean, I'm pretty careful about cross contamination when it comes to raw chicken and pork, but other than that, I can be pretty sloppy. Especially with washing vegetables and fruit.

I also probably push the boundaries as to the age of leftovers in the fridge that I'll still happily eat. I view it as training the bacteria in my stomach.

[Shinomaster]

I just ate some salsa we canned three years ago, and it was yummy. No barfing either. I think people are way too paranoid about most this stuff (although the process of canning is very serious business). People throw away leftovers after a couple of days when they are likely good for over a week ( maybe not ceviche). My mom ( a real chef) used to put things out on the porch at night (in Boston) at the holidays when the fridge was too full and it worked great. I never died. When I went to Turkey her mom did the same thing! It was so cute. Little nomads living in cities still do funny things.
I'm pretty careful after I handle raw chicken and beef, washing everything well. Just think what it was like before refrigeration and then decide if you really need to toss out that half eaten sandwich.

[rec head]

Growing up cold pizza was never actually cold. It was room temperature because it never got put in the fridge. I NEVER got sick eating pizza the next day. This went on every Friday night/Saturday morning for many years. Now if you listened to my wife you would think if we left pizza out over night we would need to use gloves to throw it out. For the record cold pizza is OK, room temp pizza is awesome.

[caleb]

I have a sketchy, generous neighbor who brings me garden produce. I wash it (because I don't know where his hands have been), then I eat it (because it's good food).

If I let said sketchy neighbors produce sit in my fridge for two weeks, it would still be less likely to make me sick than anything from a warmer in a buffet line. Especially hollandaise sauce.

[WadePatton]

I have a sketchy, generous neighbor...

man don't we all. (yes, i'm sure i fill that bill for some.)

... it would still be less likely to make me sick than anything from a warmer in a buffet line...

probably makes the immune system stronger to eat at one of these every now and then, but make sure your bathroom is sparkly clean before you tempt that fate.

the only one i frequent (twice some years) is of Asian theme, so i eat lots of wasabi and sushi each time. the msg buzz is killer. sorry no sake.

[maunahaole]

Skip the msg. Double up on the sake. MSG is poison.

[Shinomaster]

When I pick lettuce fresh or parsley from our garden it lasts about a week in the fridge and tastes really good. The shit I buy at the store starts to go bad after a few days, which makes you wonder how long it was sitting in that plastic tub. I suspect your sketchy friends produce is better than what you can buy at a typical grocery store.

[WadePatton]

Skip the msg. Double up on the sake. MSG is poison.

of course it is. hence the reaction some get. but you can't know what it's in when someone else prepares the food, i've literally heard "no, no ah em-ess-gee" (i'm squinting) and then had friends have "msg" responses. i don't really notice it, but then i do double-down on the sake, when it is available.

[maunahaole]

At a buffet, you need to assume that they use it. First bite usually tells you if it is there. Sake is a cousin of beer. Gotta love sake. Dont get me started on shochu.