Introduction

Did you know that eating a runny egg or a medium-rare hamburger, leaving the leftovers from a restaurant meal in your car for a few hours, or thawing a frozen chicken on your counter, are all potentially risky behaviors? Each of these actions leaves you vulnerable to foodborne illness.

According to the World Health Organization, food safety is growing health concern. Each year, up to 30% of people in industrialized countries alone may fall victim to the ill effects of eating contaminated food.

Older adults are at particular risk. Age-related changes-including decreased immune function that makes it harder to fight infection and digestive changes that allow germs to grow more easily-can add to both the likelihood of developing foodborne illness and the severity of its effects.

Home food safety

Long time cooks commonly protest that they've been preparing foods the same way for years without incident. That may or may not be true. Either they have been lucky, or at some point have self-diagnosed foodborne illness as "the flu." Moreover, the food supply has changed over the years. New, more virulent strains of bacteria threaten more kinds of foods. E. coli bacteria, for instance, has been traced to ground beef, but has also been found on fresh produce and in unpasteurized juice. Salmonella bacteria, once only found on the outside of egg shells, now can potentially contaminate the whole egg, making raw or undercooked eggs unsafe to eat.

Typically, harmful bacteria cannot be smelled, tasted, or otherwise detected. But the consequences, that can include diarrhea, abdominal cramping, fever, nausea, vomiting, headache, and even death, are all too apparent.

Food safety tips

Fortunately, there are some steps that both experienced and novice cooks can take to reduce their risk of foodborne illness.

• Wash hands with warm, soapy water for at least 20 seconds before touching food
• Wash them again after handling raw foods like meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs
• Wash cutting boards, utensils and counter tops with hot, soapy water immediately after preparing a raw food item
• Consider using two, easily identified, cutting boards -- one for raw meat, seafood and poultry and one for other foods
• Sanitize cutting boards regularly by rinsing them in a solution of 1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) of chlorine bleach to 1 quart (about 1 liter) of water
• Avoid using sponges for cleaning - they can harbor bacteria. Cloth towels or dishrags should be laundered frequently in hot water. Paper towels are an excellent choice for cleaning surfaces touched by raw foods
• Don't allow the juices from raw meat, poultry, and seafood to drip onto other foods. Separate them from other foods in your grocery cart and in your refrigerator
• Don't put cooked food on a plate that previously held raw food
• Use a food thermometer, not a visual check, to determine if food is cooked thoroughly
• Refrigerator temperature should stay at 41 F (5 C) or less to stop harmful bacteria from growing. It is not uncommon for temperatures to be higher, so you might want to consider using a refrigerator thermometer as a guide
• Defrost food in the refrigerator, in a microwave oven, or under cold running water, not on the counter
• Refrigerate leftovers immediately. Divide large amounts into several shallow containers so they cool quickly in the refrigerator

The US Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition recommends that seniors, in particular, avoid the following foods because the level of bacteria present may pose a significant health hazard.

• Raw fish and shellfish
• Raw or unpasteurized milk or cheese
• Soft cheeses such as Brie, Camembert, blue-veined and Mexican-style cheese
• Raw or lightly cooked egg or egg products
• Raw meat or poultry
• Raw alfalfa sprouts
• Unpasteurized or untreated fruit or vegetable juice