Food-borne illness

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VOL 106 / NO 2 / AUGUST 1999 / POSTGRADUATE MEDICINE

The United States has one of the safest food supplies in the world. And yet we often hear about illnesses caused by food. The fact is that bacteria survive--and sometimes thrive--despite the best controls available. Food can meet up with bacteria anytime and anyplace. What can we do to reduce the risks?

Bacteria exist everywhere and can be quickly moved from one source to another. Raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs are easy targets, along with berries, lettuce, sprouts, and other produce. Even safely cooked, ready-to-eat foods can become cross-contaminated with bacteria transferred from one food to another, from hands, countertops, sneezes, and coughs, among many other sources.

What are the symptoms?

Food-borne illness often shows up as a flulike sickness, with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or fever. It is not unusual for the symptoms to occur 24 hours or longer after eating. One illness that has attracted a great deal of attention lately, Listeria monocytogenes infection, can occur anywhere from 12 hours to 3 weeks after eating contaminated food.

Keep your food safe

Bacteria multiply rapidly between 40°F (4.4°C) and 140°F (60°C). To protect food from this danger zone, keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot.

• Store food in the refrigerator at 40°F (4.4°C) or below, or in the freezer at 0°F (-17.8°C) or below. (Check refrigerator and freezer temperatures occasionally.)
• Maintain hot cooked food at 140°F (60°C) or higher.
• Reheat cooked food to 165°F (73.8°C).

Keep your kitchen safe

These simple practices can reduce the risks of food-borne illness at home.

• Wash counters, sinks, cutting boards, refrigerator door handles, and the bottom shelf of the refrigerator regularly with a diluted bleach solution or disinfectant. (Use 1 teaspoon of bleach in a quart of water or buy a commercial product labeled "disinfectant.")
• Bag meat and seafood separately in plastic bags at the grocery store. Store them at home in containers that prevent the juices from dripping or contaminating other foods. Use refrigerated meat and seafood within a day or two.
• Wash cellulose sponges (the nonabrasive kind) in the dishwasher or put them in the microwave for 1 minute. These sponges are common sources of bacteria. Use paper towels instead of sponges or cloth towels to clean up spills.

Prepare food carefully

Be sure to wash your hands before and after handling foods, especially raw meat. Soap and running water can remove many bacteria, particularly if you lather for at least 20 seconds.

• Use separate cutting boards for meats and vegetables. (The boards can be either wood or plastic.) Scrub the boards with hot, soapy water after each use and run them through the dishwasher or rinse them in a bleach solution.
• Rinse fresh fruits and vegetables under running water for at least 30 seconds, even when the label says they're prewashed and ready to eat. Scrub apples, carrots, and cantaloupe with a produce brush. Discard the outer leaves of greens, and wash each leaf you use. Throw discolored or soft berries away.
• When you prepare meat or poultry, don't use the same plate for both the raw meat and the cooked meat unless you wash the plate carefully after removing the raw meat. Bacteria multiply quickly in raw meat juices.
• Use a meat thermometer to make sure meat and poultry are hot throughout. Cook roast beef and lamb to 145°F (62.7°C), pork and ground beef to 160°F (71.1°C), chicken breasts to 170°F (76.6°C), and whole chickens to 180°F (82.2°C). Wash the thermometer after each test so you don't contaminate the cooked meat with uncooked juices.
• Never leave food out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours. If possible, refrigerate foods immediately after your meal; don't wait for them to cool down. And finally, don't eat (or let the kids eat) raw meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, and homemade cookie dough.

What to do if you suspect food-borne illness

The FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition suggests these guidelines if you think you have an illness transmitted by food.

1. Save the evidence. If any of the food is still available, wrap it securely, mark it clearly with a "danger" label, and refrigerate it. Save all the packaging materials, such as cans or cartons. Write down the food type, the date and time you ate it, and when the symptoms began. Save any identical unopened products.

2. Seek treatment if necessary. If the illness occurs in someone at especially high risk, such as a very young or very old person, someone with a chronic illness such as diabetes or AIDS, or a pregnant woman, the person should get medical help immediately. The same holds true if symptoms are severe, such as bloody diarrhea, excessive nausea and vomiting, or high fever.

3. Call your local health department. If you become sick after attending a large gathering, after eating at a restaurant or other food service facility, or after eating a commercially prepared product, call health department officials to alert them and help them track the illness.

4. Call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hot line at 800-535-4555 if the food is a USDA-inspected product and you have all the packaging.

This information is not a substitute for medical treatment.

For more information on food-borne illness, contact:

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA)

• Meat and Poultry Hot Line, 800-535-4555
• USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service Website, http://www.fsis.usda.gov

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

• Consumer Food Information Line, 800-FDA-4010
• FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Website, http://www.cfsan.fda.gov

Please send technical questions related to the Web site to Ann Harste