Getting the kitchen ready for the holidays

Now that we’ve switched back to the ancient, standard time, and we all get home after dark; we seem to be stuck in the house for endless hours every night. (I really don’t see much point in switching back to standard time every year; except that it makes us all appreciate day-light savings time when it comes around again in the spring.)

So, what to do with all those extra hours trapped in your house with your family?

One great idea is to clean out the fridge! Yay!


With all the ‘hustle and bustle’ of the holiday season, it’s easy for your fridge to get packed in just a few short, crazy weeks. So, the week or two before Thanksgiving (right after we fall back) is the best time to clean out the fridge and get it ready.

I always try to clean out my fridge on the night before the trash man comes, because room-temperature, out-of-date fridge contents can get pretty stinky sitting in the trash can. Check the dates (sell-by, freeze-by, or use-by dates) on all your deli meats, hot dogs, and cheeses. This is also a good chance to double-check your mayonnaise, salad dressings, and salsa, pretty much anything that’s perishable.

I know that the dates are sometimes hard to find, so I took some pictures to give examples of where dates may be found. I can’t tell you when or where I took these pictures (for my own protection).

Dates may be found on the back of the package or the bottom of the label. Sometimes they are on the lids of jars or the bottoms of cans. Sometimes they are not on the label at all and are printed directly on the plastic of the jar, bottle, or package.

Mustard, barbeque sauce, frozen foods, pickled things. These all have a ‘best-by’ date. Notice that some of my examples are out-of date and some have dates that go almost two years into the future. These dates are mostly to help insure the quality of the product. If you eat them after this date, they may not taste great, but they won’t make you sick. Now, remember that this is dependent on how the food has been handled. If it has been allowed to reach room temperature after it was opened, it may not be safe, regardless of the date.

 

The next set of pictures represents use-by dates, and I thought they were some good examples of where to look for dates. Again, they probably won’t make you sick if you consume them after the date expires, but it probably won’t taste very good at all. Cool whip and margarine are usually used in other dishes, so you want to make sure that their ingredients are in the best condition. If you use them after the use-by date, your final dish may not be as good. The oil in ketchup will separate out as it gets older. The artificial sweeteners in diet drinks lose their sweet flavor after a few months, so that Diet Coke may taste like bitter, fizzy water. Salsa and picante sauce may fall in this category, too. I have found that they are prone to mold growth, even in the fridge. Ick….

 

In this last group of pictures, some of the dates say “best-by” and some just have a printed date. These pictures are meats or foods largely made with milk and egg products which are good places for bacteria to grow. So, for meats, mayonnaise, yogurt, cheese sauce, and those types of products, I would stick with the dates. Throw out anything that is past the date on the package. I would put ranch dressing in this category, too.

Ok… back to cleaning out the fridge.

Toss out any left-over’s older than 3-days old. I am guilty of keeping leftovers until they would make good science projects, but we never eat them. We just make funny faces as they go in the trash.

Remember that you are trying to make more room. Sometimes I find two opened packages of the same food and condense them. Empty the shelves all the way to the back. Check the date on everything in the door.

This is a good chance to wash the refrigerator shelves and the drawers with hot, soapy water. You might also want to put in a fresh box of baking soda.

Are you planning to thaw some large meat items in your fridge on Turkey day? (You know… a turkey.) Get a big space cleaned out so you can put it on the bottom shelf. Make sure you have a tray or plate big enough to put it in to catch the juices while it’s thawing. Also, double check that the shelf above is not too low and that your turkey won’t be touching it. Most refrigerators today have adjustable shelves, so you can make the space above the bottom shelf as big as you need it.

You will need to allow 1 day of thawing for every 5 lbs of frozen turkey. So, be ready to share your fridge with a large bird for three or four days before Thanksgiving.
Remember that you may have to store large casserole dishes in your fridge for a while, so make sure there is room for those too. Also, they are not very tall, so you can adjust the upper shelves closer together to save room.

Double check that your refrigerator is cold. (Remember that the temperature will rise if you have the door open, so be sure to check the temperature after the door has been closed for 20 or 30 minutes.) I like to keep mine as cold as possible without freezing my milk, but it should be set no warmer than 38°-40°F. You want to make sure that it is 40°F or cooler in every area of the fridge, so setting it lower may be necessary.

This is a good chance to look over your shopping list for Turkey Day. Figure out the things that you need and the things that you already have. Make sure you have a meat thermometer! Food costs are going to be high this year, so you don’t want to buy ingredients that are already in the fridge or the cabinet. For example, I think I have enough salt for thirty years because I mistakenly thought I needed salt when I was planning a big meal … maybe it wasn’t me…

I don’t have much counter space in my kitchen, so I have to spend a little time clearing off my counters before I take on a big cooking job. You also want to wash your countertops with warm soapy water. Double check that your roasting pan and casserole dishes are clean. Sometimes, if they aren’t used for several months, they can collect dust. Make sure you have at least two good cutting boards, one for food that is going to be cooked and one for food that will be eaten without being cooked. I like to use different colored cutting boards for ready-to-eat and pre-cooked foods. I also want to remind you to keep the knives and other utensils separate for ready-to-eat and pre-cooked foods.

Or… you could spend your evenings watching TV and go to someone else’s house for Thanksgiving. Let your Mom (and, in my case, Dad) do the cooking. That’s my plan, but I still need to clean out my fridge. ;)

What is Nitrate?

I recently had a discussion with another mom about nitrates and nitrites in meat and their safety. She said that she buys nitrate-free products for her kids. She is a smart lady and wants to do the best for her family’s health, but she didn’t even understand what nitrate or nitrites are and sure didn’t know why they were added to meats.

I touched on nitrite a little bit in my processed meats post, but I thought a whole post about them might clear things up.

Question one. What is nitrate/nitrite?  

Nitrates and nitrites are chemical groups, part of lots of compounds, both natural and man-made. They are a combination of a nitrogen atom and either two (nitrite; NO₂) or three (nitrate; NO₃) oxygen atoms. When it’s added in processed meats it is usually combined with sodium or potassium (you would see it as Sodium Nitrite on the ingredient statement). Nitrite (the one with 2 oxygens) is most commonly used in meats.

I mentioned in a previous post the benefits of nitrite in the diet and linked to the video by Dr. Nathan Bryan.

Question two. Why is nitrite added to meats?

Good question. Have you ever heard of cured meats of meat curing? Curing meat requires nitrite. Some good examples of cured meats are ham, bacon, hotdogs, and pepperoni.

The nitrite in cured meats serves several purposes.

1. It gives cured meats that pretty pink color and the color that lasts a long time (unlike fresh meat color).
2. It gives cured meats their distinct flavor.  (Think about how a ham tastes so different from a pork roast.)
3. It protects the meat from organisms that cause spoilage and disease. Cured meats have a longer shelf life than most uncured meats. Nitrite directly prevents the growth of that nasty ol’ Clostridium botulinum, which is the bacteria that causes botulism (it’s also the organism used to make Botox, but that doesn’t mean we want it in our meat).
4. It prevents the meat from going rancid and protects the flavor of the meat.

Many historians think that meat curing was discovered by accident when salt contaminated with nitrite was rubbed on meat. (Salt was one of the first ingredients added to meat).

Question three. Why do we have uncured or no nitrite/nitrate added products?

Natural and organic products have become very popular in the last few years.  I covered this in one of my first blog posts. The definitions of Natural and Organic are regulated by USDA, and nitrates and nitrites are not permitted as an ingredient in products with those labels. If you try to make cured meat products like ham, bacon, or hotdogs without nitrite, the meat turns out a gray color and won’t have the typical cured flavor. Not so good.

Why don’t people want it?

When consumed in large quantities, nitrite can be toxic. Also, nitrite can combine with protein in meat at high temperatures and form nitrosamines, which are cancer-causing agents. Now, the amount of nitrite added in processed meats is very small and most processed meats are not cooked at those very high temperatures, so the level of nitrosamines formed is almost none. Processors also started adding the antioxidants, ascorbate (vitamin C) and erythorbate (structurally related to vitamin C), to cured meats to block the formation of nitrosamines. There has also been some scary stuff published that attempted to link hot dogs with cancer, but those studies have since been disproven.

So how do we get uncured ham and hotdogs that still look and taste like ham and hotdogs?

Remember in the processed meats post, I mentioned the video of the interview my friend Dr. Jeff Sindelar? He told us that people ingest most dietary nitrite from green leafy vegetables and not from processed meats. Technically, it’s nitrate (NO₃) that is found in most vegetables, but it’s is converted to nitrite in when it comes into contact with the saliva in your mouth. These same vegetables and/or their juices can be added to Natural meats as a source of nitrite. Processors may also add harmless bacteria, called a starter culture, to convert the nitrate in the vegetables into nitrite.

But, why does it say “no nitrite or nitrate added” and “uncured”?

Because nitrate or nitrite is not added directly, the process of the traditional cured meats is altered, so the manufacturers are required to say that it is “no nitrate or nitrite added” or that it is “uncured”. A more accurate term would probably be “indirectly cured” or “naturally cured”.

So, is it better or worse than conventional cured meats?

The answer to that question is, “Yes.” If you feel very strongly about eating natural or organic products and don’t want to consume artificial ingredients, or if there are other claims that accompany the natural claim, like grass-fed or antibiotic free, that are important to you, then these products will allow you to still enjoy hot dogs and ham and other cured meats. Realize that the nitrite is still in the meat product. It just comes from a natural source. 

One concern I have is that other ingredients, such as lactates, that help inhibit spoilage and fight off pathogenic organisms are not allowed in natural and organic meats, so they may be more susceptible to spoilage and are more dependent on processing techniques to guard against pathogens. You should be very careful to observe the use by dates and store them correctly. See my lunch box safety post for that info.

Natural and organic meats products are more expensive than traditionally-processed products, so the benefit of low cost protein is somewhat lost when you choose natural or especially organic.

Meat color is a-changin’!

Let’s say you bought some steaks or a roast at the grocery store, brought it home and stuck it in the fridge. (Hopefully, stored on a plate on the bottom shelf.) You don’t get around to fixing it (that’s Texan for preparing it) for supper for a day or two. You take it out of the fridge and it has a brownish color. Maybe a few brown spots or maybe the whole thing is just a little browner than it was when you bought it. Has it gone bad? Should you throw it out? It wasn’t cheap, so you hate to throw it out. What to do?

Check the use-by date. Smell it. Does it smell bad? If it doesn’t smell bad and if you haven’t passed the use-by date, it’s probably ok.

Why is it brown in my fridge when it was red in the store?
 

Short answer. It oxidized. Muscle has an ability to prevent (really slow down) oxidation, but that ability runs out with time. Oxidized muscle is brown.

Long answer. Well, to understand why meat is brown, we need to understand why it was red, first.

Meat contains lots of proteins. Some are structural (they hold the meat together). Some are for contraction (remember that the meat was originally for moving an animal around). Some proteins hold onto oxygen to help provide the muscle with energy.

These oxygen-holding proteins are largely responsible for meat color. The main one is called myoglobin. Myoglobin is closely related to the hemoglobin that holds oxygen as it is transported through our blood. Just like we learned in sixth grade science class that blood comes in two colors (red when it is exposed to oxygen in the arteries and blue when the oxygen is gone in the veins), meat pigment comes in those two colors, too. When it is not exposed to oxygen, meat has a purple color. You can see this color right after it is cut. Meat scientists call this ‘deoxymyoglobin’ because the myoglobin doesn’t have any oxygen. If you buy meat that has been vacuum packaged, it will be purplish in color.

The meat will slowly take up oxygen from the air and turn red. In the meat business, we refer to the time it takes go from purple to red as ‘bloom time’. Most of the meat you buy in the store has been packaged so that the oxygen in the air is available to combine with the myoglobin in the meat. That’s why it is a pretty red color in the store.

We recently did a research project studying bloom time. This is a picture of some steaks from that study. The ones in the front had just been removed from a vacuum package and were the purplish deoxymyoglobin. The ones in the back had been setting out for an hour, and you can see the bright red color.

Purple to red… what about brown?

Ok. So, even though the animal is no longer living, the enzymes in the muscle are still somewhat functional. The enzymes in charge of using oxygen to produce energy will take the oxygen and metabolize it. To do this, the pigment (actually, the iron in the pigment) is oxidized (it loses electrons). When the iron is oxidized, the meat will turn brown.

 In fresh meat, other enzymes can fix the problem by reducing the iron (give it electrons back) and it will turn back to purple. Then, it can grab some more oxygen and produce more energy and the cycle begins again. This really only happens on the surface of the meat where it is exposed to oxygen, so at first, you have a red layer with the purple underneath (everywhere on the meat that is exposed to air will be red. You won’t see the purple unless you cut it). At first, the brown coloring is not around long enough to see. As the process slows with time, a brown layer of pigment will form between the red and purple.

Eventually, the enzymes will run out completely and the muscle will not be able to fix the oxidized, brown pigment and it will turn completely brown on the surface. That is the brown coloring you see. If you leave it long enough, the oxidation could spread to the fat and cause some off-flavors, but the paying attention to the use-by date should prevent that.

Here is a picture from a study we conducted. Some steaks were left in retail cases (in our lab) for a week and allowed to turn brown. Then we cut them into little cubes. You can see the completely oxidized brown coloring on the surface and the purple coloring in the middle.

Just remember to pay attention to the use-by dates on the package and if you don’t cook it by then, freeze it by then.  Use your nose and feel if the meat is slimy. If it’s smelly or slimy, cut your losses and throw it out.

I also have a video blog about why meat is red.

Recalls

Nothing is more frightening than seeing a food recall or a food poisoning outbreak on the news or online. Especially when it is a very common product that you use all the time, like ground beef or cantaloupe.

A recall means that a problem has been found with a food, and the company that produced it is removing it from the food supply. This can be for a variety of reasons from undeclared allergens (ingredients that people may be allergic to that are not on the label) to contamination with bacteria or a virus.

One recent recall was due to people getting sick from E. coli O157:H7 infection in Ohio (not all recalls are associated with sicknesses). Scientists tested the ground beef in the people’s homes and found that it was contaminated with that strain of E. coli. Meat companies print codes on their packages that allow them to trace any package back to the plant where the meat was produced, the day, sometimes even the production line and the time of day. They can use that information and look at their records to know exactly what other packages may be contaminated with the same bacteria and where they were sold.

How do I find out about recalls?

Recalls of retail products are usually on the local news. If you see something being recalled on the news, you can usually find out more information by going to the news website or to the website of the company that is issuing the recall. Sometimes you may have to search ‘recall’ when you get to their site.

I know that not everyone watches the news, so I have been thinking of some other ways to find out about recalls. Because I’m a meat scientist, the first thing I thought of was FSIS. The Food Safety Inspection Service of the USDA has a recall page on their website that you could check, but this will only cover products under the jurisdiction of USDA (meat, poultry and eggs). The FDA also has a recall page, for FDA-regulated products (all food except meat, poultry, and eggs). Both of these pages offer an option to sign up for email alerts. The webpage http://www.foodsafety.gov/ combines the food safety information from FSIS and FDA and has US food recall information on one page where you can sign up for email alerts, follow them on facebook, twitter or as an RSS feed.

How do I know if recalls apply to me?
The recall information should give where the product was produced and the establishment number of the processing plant associated with the recall.

What is an Establishment number?

Every meat processing plant is given a specific number by the USDA. Any product that exits that plant has to have the Establishment number on its label.

If the meat being recalled is red meat and is processed (most of it will be processed), it will have an inspection mark like the one in the middle of the picture above. If it is poultry (chicken, turkey) it will be like the one on the right.

The recall will also tell you what states the recalled product was sold into. For meat and poultry recalls, they will tell you the ‘Best-by’ or ‘Freeze-by’ dates printed on the package. When meat is packaged in a plant, the processor prints a ‘Best-by’ or ‘Freeze-by’ date on the package that allow the consumer to know when to eat or freeze the product and to allow the processor to know when the product was made (simple subtraction).

Sometimes these dates are hard to find. They are printed on the package as the meat goes down the production line, so they are simple, one-line, almost stamp-like. Sometimes they are on the bottom of a can or on the side of the package.

Here are some pictures of some ham I had in the fridge. Notice the inspection mark with the establishment number on the bottom and the ‘best-by’ date at the top.




See the establishment number
in the little circle at the bottom?







The use-by date



Many times when a recall is issued, people will throw out things in their fridge or freezer just because it is the same type of product as what is being recalled. I think that is wasteful. 

Here is an example: According to the Tyson website, a product recently recalled was 73% lean ground beef sold in 3- and 5-pound packages. The chubs had an Establishment Number of EST 245D and a Best-by or Freeze-by date of September 12. The product was produced on August 23. That means if you bought some 3- or 5-pound chubs of 73% ground beef between August 24 and September 12, you should go check your freezer and look to see if your ground beef has the EST 245D and a Best-by date or Freeze-by date of September 12.

Chances are you didn’t buy 3 and 5-pound packages of 73% ground beef. Those are really big packages and it’s the fattiest ground beef available. If you buy leaner ground beef, it is not part of this recall. Don’t just throw out any ground beef you find.

What about buying meat at the store?

If a recall has been issued, you shouldn’t have to worry about that product still being on the shelf at a store. Stores are very diligent at getting recalled product removed from their shelves. Stores that have had recalled product will also have information about it on their website.

What if I find recalled product in my fridge or freezer?

If you find product in your house that has been recalled for any reason, you can take it back to the store. I would call the store first and ask about taking it back. You don’t want to show up with it and no one knows about the recall or what to do. I say this because after my year working in a grocery store, I realized that not everyone is always on the same page.

If the recall was for some type of bacterial contamination (E. coli, salmonella, and Listeria have been the ones in the news lately), remember to treat the recalled product with care. If you find it in the fridge or the freezer, I would take it out, put it in a big, zip-lock-type freezer bag, make sure it sealed, and put it in the freezer. That will lessen the chances of it contaminating something else. Wash your hands thoroughly after you’ve handled it. Be sure to clean any surfaces it touched (plates for thawing, refrigerator shelves, counter top) with warm soapy water. When you do take it to the store, go directly there. Don’t leave it in your car for very long.

If you have a question about a recall, you can always just ask me. If I don’t know the answer, I will find someone who does.

 

Lunch box safety

A study from the University of Texas was recently published in the journal, Pediatrics, and was widely covered on morning talk shows and in web articles. Basically, these scientists went into several pre-schools and daycare centers in Central Texas and took the temperature of perishable foods in kids’ lunch boxes about an hour and a half before lunchtime. What they found was very concerning. Only about 12% of the lunches were stored in refrigerators. (My lunch was never stored in the fridge at school, either). Most lunches were stored in the air-conditioned classrooms in cubbies. Over 97% of the meats, 99% of the dairy and 98% of the perishable veggies were at unsafe temperatures, in the DANGER ZONE of temperatures between 40 and 140°F. Realize this study was conducted in Central Texas in the fall of the year. The outside temperature was 81°F at 9:00 and 9:30 am, so it’s probably a worst-case scenario for temperatures.

Furthermore, the food disease specialists that were interviewed in this article by Food Safety News said that they didn’t know of any cases where children were sickened by their packed lunches, but they were still concerned because the sickness would be isolated incidents and probably not reported. My opinion is similar in that, school lunches getting above 40°F for a very short time is probably not going to cause sickness most of the time, but this was an hour and a half before lunch. It also made me think that many ‘stomach bugs’ that kids get are packed in their lunches and sent with them to school.

So, what to do?

My first thought was to just put an ice pack in the lunch box. Duh! BUT, over 60% of the lunches in the study contained an ice-pack, some contained 2 or more. (Some contained five… I don’t really know how there was any room for food).

The first step is to keep their food clean and cold for as long as possible. Minimize the time in the DANGER ZONE.

Make sure you have an insulated lunch box/bag for your kids’ lunch. One website suggested storing them in the freezer, so the ice packs aren’t wasting energy by cooling down the lunch box (Note to all the Sheldon Cooper’s out there: let’s not get into true thermodynamics today). You could make their lunch the night before and store the whole thing in the fridge overnight, then stick an icepack from the freezer in there on your way out the door.

Make sure your ice packs are as cold as possible. And, use real ice packs or blue ice. Baggies with ice cubes are not going to stay as cold. Some lunches in the study contained frozen teething rings (no joke) or frozen juice boxes. Those aren’t going to work either. Buy two or three ice packs and rotate them in the freezer, so that the one you are putting in the lunch box is as cold as possible.

For older kids, you can make a build-your-own-lunch. Pack the meat in its own baggie and make sure it lies right next to the ice pack. It will stay coldest that way. Then, pack the bread, cheese, and veggies separate. Remember that veggies, like lettuce, also need to stay cold. Bread is a good insulator; put it closest to the opening of the lunch box. Also, don’t use a lunch box that is too large. All the air in the extra space in a large lunch box is hard to keep cold. 

If you are worried about processed meats, you should check out my blog posts on processed meats or nitrates.



The use by date on this package of ham
is at the top under the word 'RESEALABLE'

Pack as fresh and clean a lunch as possible. When preparing kids’ lunches, make sure you wash your hands (especially grubby little helper’s hands). Make sure the counter top has been washed. Wash the inside of the lunch box out. Keep your own fridge as cold as possible and check the dates on your deli meats. You don’t need to store unopened deli meats in the fridge for longer than two weeks, and once you open a package of deli meats, you need to use it all in 3 to 5 days. Remember that every time you put your hand in the package, you are potentially exposing the meat to germs, so make sure your hands are clean. Hot dogs are another popular option for kids’ lunches, but treat them like a deli meat. If you only go to the store once a month, freeze your extra deli meats until you are ready to use them.

Some scientists suggest that the condiments on the sandwich help minimize bacterial growth. Mayonnaise and MiracleWhip are acidic, and mustard can also slow bacterial growth, so adding these may help, too.

Another option is to only pack non-perishable items in kids’ lunch boxes. I am not saying that means cutting out meat. Rather than a ham or turkey sandwich, pack beef jerky or beef sticks with crackers, cheese, and fruit (How Mediterranean!). There are some shelf-stable (don’t need refrigeration) pepperoni products out there. Some types of summer sausage don’t need refrigeration. Occasionally packing a peanut butter (and jelly) sandwich may also be an option, but some kids have peanut allergies.

You could always ask your kids’ teachers about keeping their lunch in the fridge.

I hope this post helps you to feel better about fixing your child's lunch for school. If you have any ideas for lunches, comments or questions, please comment below.

:)

What is really in processed meats?

While you are reading the first few sentences of this post, imagine (better yet, sing) an accompaniment of dooming background music. Think Darth Vader. I am going to talk about what is in processed meats (this is a good place for the ‘dun dun duh’ part of the song). Everyone knows the old saying about the only two things you don’t want to see being made are… sausage and legislation. And, we all learned from those menacing little raccoons on ‘The Great Outdoors’ that hot dogs are made from lips and assholes. (dun dun duh).

Some processed meats in Germany from a trip
 several years ago.

Well, as entertaining as the raccoons and the jokes about law-makers may be, they are wrong about processed meats (now imagine light-hearted back ground music). Processed meats are an inexpensive source of protein. They are safe and convenient. They are NOT made with lips and assholes (sorry about the language, Mother) unless it’s on the label.

In the US, we have some of the most stringent food labeling laws in the world. If an ingredient is in a food, then it is on the label. (Side note: I worked at a grocery store in college, and occasionally we had to package ‘real Mexican Chorizo’. Being a meat academic, I read the ingredient statement on the label. Do you really think this company would let us know that their product contained pork salivary glands if they didn’t have to? Uh. No.) If you want to know what is in a certain processed meat, look on the label. If it says ‘Beef’ or ‘Pork’ like most processed meats do, it is only skeletal meat (muscles used to move the bones around). As of right now, that means beef products may contain lean, finely textured beef. Any organ meat (hearts, livers) have to be listed on the label. Lips and ass holes really don’t make very good sausage, anyway.

So, why are processed meats inexpensive? Well, not every bit of a beef or pork carcass will make a good steak or roast. Sometimes the pieces are too small, and sometimes it is too tough to be eaten without being ground up. Those pieces are combined and ground up. Processors add other ingredients like salt and spices for flavor and texture. They are adding value to the low-cost parts and giving us a great tasting, inexpensive source of protein. Processed meats are the only source for protein for kids from some families because it is all they can afford.

Furthermore, lots of processed meats (hot dogs, bologna, and deli meats) are pre-cooked and can be eaten straight out of the fridge*. They are quick and easy. Any meat product that is ‘ready-to-eat’, meaning completely cooked and ready to be served to the consumer without any further preparation, is subject to extra regulations by USDA. They have to show how they are keeping their product safe, they may add extra, bacteria fighting measures to the process, and are subject to extra bacteria testing. It is safe stuff.

Some people worry about nitrite in processed meats. Nitrite is a key ingredient that gives cured meats the flavor and color we have become accustomed to enjoying. Think pink hams and hot dogs. Yum! Also, nitrite prevents the growth of a nasty bacteria Clostridium botulinum, the one that causes botulism.

Did you know that you get more nitrite from green, leafy vegetables than from processed meats? Actually, the body makes nitrite using saliva combined with these vegetables because it needs it. The body uses nitrite to perform all kinds of functions from regulating blood pressure to helping heal wounds and brain injury after a stroke.

The folks at the American Meat Institute did an interview with a friend of mine, Jeff Sindelar at the University of Wisconsin about sources of nitrite in the diet. His main research focus is on nitrites in processed meats.

There are some very scary claims out there linking hot dogs with an increased cancer risk. Although these claims are recurrently cycled on the news, the data that they are based on is from over 40 years ago. They claim that the nitrite in processed meats (hot dogs) is a carcinogen. There is a researcher at the University of Texas named Dr. Nathan Bryan who studies the effects of dietary nitrite on the human body, and he says that current research not only found no cancer risk with nitrite, but also found health benefits. Basically, current science says, “Don’t be afraid of hotdogs!”

Also, I have written a post about nitrite and one about making sausage in our meat lab.
Besides, do you really think ESPN would put an international broccoli eating competition on TV?

*(Side note: Just to be extra safe, pregnant women should not eat hotdogs and deli meats, without heating them up first, because of an abortion-causing bacteria rarely found in ready-to-eat deli meats and hotdogs)

Safety in Knowledge

September is National Food Safety Education Month, so I felt like I needed to supply some info on food safety. This post will mostly be links to other sites about keeping you and your family safe as you prepare food for them. I wanted to get this information to you before the big Labor Day weekend.

Everyone involved with food is responsible for its safety including the farmer/rancher, the processor, the grocery store or restaurant, and the consumer. In the US, we have the safest food supply in the world, and we, as consumers, are partially responsible for that. Yay, US!

The US Department of Agriculture launched a neat campaign called Be Food Safe.

It all boils down to using 4 simple steps to store and prepare food safely. You can also check out the steps with Alvin and the Chipmunks here. Seriously.

1. Clean.

a. Wash your hands with soap and warm water before you start to cook and after you touch raw meat or eggs.

b. Wash all cutting boards, utensils, and anything else that touched the food with hot, soapy water after you are finished with them, or run them through the dish washer. Wiping them down with a dish rag doesn’t get them clean.


c. Wash you counter tops with hot, soapy water.

2. Separate. – I think this video is pretty funny.

a. Keep raw meats away from foods you will eat without cooking, like fresh fruits.

b. This means keeping raw meats away from fresh foods in the grocery cart and in your shopping bags. If you like to use those nifty and environmentally responsible reusable shopping bags, good for you, BUT use a disposable bag for raw meat and poultry. Mother Earth will forgive you and she will be thankful that you are not sick. You don’t want to take the chance of meat juice leaking into the reusable bag and it contaminating fresh vegetables on your next trip to the grocery store.


c. Use one cutting board for raw meat, poultry, and seafood and another one for fresh fruits and vegetables, salads, cheese, or anything else you will eat without cooking it. In many restaurants, the cutting boards are even different colors. Raw meat is always cut on red, seafood on blue, and vegetables on green, for example.


d. When you store raw meat at home, make sure it is kept away from ready-to-eat foods. It is best to store raw meats on the bottom shelf and keep a pan under it to catch any juices that may seep off.

3. Cook.


a. Use a food thermometer. Over 80% of American’s don’t use a thermometer when cooking ground beef or hamburgers. Ahhhhh!!! They are cheap (food thermometers, not the Americans that don’t use them) and available at your local grocery store. When you use it, make sure you stick it in the center of your food (that’s where it will be the coldest).

i. Anything made from ground beef, ground pork or poultry HAS to be temped before you remove it from the heat. That includes meat loaf, hamburgers, and sausage patties. Ground beef and ground pork should be cooked to 160°F (71°C) and all poultry should be cooked to 165°F (77°C). Some people thing they can tell if meat is done by looking at the color. Wrong! Meat color and they way it reacts to heat is dependent on lots of things. Too many to trust color for determining if it’s ready to eat.

ii. Whole muscle meats (steaks, roasts, and fish) have lower cooking temperature requirements because the bacteria are only on the outside of the food, while in ground meat, the bacteria could be all through it.


iii. (Side note, using a food thermometer also keeps you from overcooking your burgers and making them tough and dry. Bonus!)

b. When you microwave something, make sure you stir it, and if you don’t have a rotating plate in your microwave, rotate the dish yourself. Microwaves don’t always cook food evenly, so you have to help it out.


c. When you reheat a sauce, soup or gravy, be sure to bring it to a boil. These foods can be dangerous because they go from hot to cold and back to hot again. They have to make two or more trips through the Danger Zone of temperature between 40 and 140°F.

4. Chill.

a. Your refrigerator should be kept at 40°F or below. I keep ours just above freezing. I know it costs more on the electric bill (my husband pays it anyway), but a few dollars are worth it in the peace of mind of keeping us healthy and our foods last longer. The colder your fridge, the faster it will get foods chilled.

b. Get things in the fridge quickly. Don’t let leftovers set out all night. They will cool and be in the Danger Zone. Try to have them in the fridge in less than 2 hours. Also, store leftovers in shallow dishes so they will chill faster.

c. Keep in mind that you need to thaw meat in the fridge, too. See my post on proper thawing.


Here are some more resources from USDA and others to help you learn how to keep your food safe.

Tips for storage, cooking, and chilling specific foods

USDA facts for kids

After school snacking for kids

A really fun one about pathogens (bacteria and viruses that make you sick)

http://www.meatsafety.org/

http://foodsafety.gov/