In the last few days I have encountered an inordinately high number of food safety discussions (one sparked by me). This is, therefore, a combination of a discussion and solicitation of additions, but also a bit of a PSA. The ones that I recall are:
Vibrio…an often lethal bacteria found chiefly in warm, brackish waters and lakes. It gets in seafood and if not cooked to 145 F (reputedly a safe temperature, but I cannot vouch for it) can cause horrible illness and quick death. A man supposedly died because a scallop was cooked the way I like them and that has internal temp below 145. Obviously sushi of certain types can pose a risk. Getting vibrio in a wound when swimming presents the same risks.
Mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy)…a member of HO knew of a death from a food borne source.
Cross contamination of reusable grocery bags…wash them regularly.
Of course we all read of the all too frequent recalls for various products. This being not merely summer but an exceptionally hot one for many and an exceptionally wet one for others, proper care and storage of food can get more challenging. As hunting season arrives, be wary of diseases, parasites, etc. impacting things you hunt. Likewise for fishing. Even vegetarians are susceptible. I have been noticing more odd things in or on produce, not to mention the occasional cracked egg.
So as I give up oysters on the half shell, translucent scallops, and other gustatory joys, I wish you safe eating, but you’ll have to knock my rare steak off my fork. I have also gone to using pasteurized eggs for mayonnaise and other uncooked emulsions.
I started doing this when I brought Caesar salad for a dinner where one of the guests was pregnant. I bought them in the shell from a local grocery. That grocery chain went out of business, and nobody else carries them, at least here. The producer’s website offers no help. I guess I’ll have to drag ou the sous vide stick and do my own. Are yours available in a grocery?
Alas, no HEB here. The chain that used to carry them was SuperFresh. Someone else owns the name now; the ones here were owned by A & P, who closed them during their bankruptcy. The egg brand is Davidson’s.
Thank you for the reminder to everyone out there.
Our family has had some close calls with allergic reactions, Escherichia (the bad e.coli) and many bouts of food poisoning. All food related.
We are so very careful and keep that eagle eye out for anything that may be suspicious.
Our son’s experience with e.coli could have been much worse if it wasn’t for our vigilance in getting quick medical care and then doing the detective work to find the source.
KYF2!
It tastes like chickpeas. Maybe a tad saltier. I would think the use of it with chocolate might be ok. Chocolate and salt are a natural, and dark chocolate seems strong enough to mask it. I doubt zabaglione or tiramisu could. They are both pretty light in the taste department.
If you can get by with just egg whites or whole eggs, you can by these in liquid containers (which are pasteurized). But I have yet to find just yolks.
When my BF was studying for the ServSafe last year, I followed along with the material knowing I’d be taking it soon (maybe in a month or two). Simply put, it makes you never want to eat anything. There is so much that can go wrong in food handling, from the unintentional to penny-pinching chefs knowingly serving something that belongs in the garbage.
I said this in another thread: given some of the practices I have personally witnessed in restaurants combined with the unintentional, it is amazing that more people do not get seriously ill or even die from foodborne pathogens.
And a reminder that the “danger zone” is cumulative. Was the delivery truck’s refrigeration up to standard? How long did it take to move the product from the truck to the restaurant or store’s refrigerator? Is the store’s unit maintaining temperature? How long did it sit out from when removed until prepared? All this adds up. And when you have a truck remove another restaurant’s products outside in the summer heat to get yours, and then needs to maneuver the delivery into your storage and then back outside and puts the other product back in, and maybe several times on a delivery run, yeah, you can see the potential issue.
