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By Kevin L. Robinson
DeCA public affairs specialist
FORT LEE, Va. – Gambling with food safety is a bet you cannot afford to lose. According to Foodsafety.gov, one in six Americans will fall ill this year from food poisoning, with 100,000 going to the hospital and 3,000 people dying each year.
Commissaries have layers of food safety protection to help keep foodborne illnesses away from their customers. However, once patrons purchase their groceries and go home, who is on the clock for food safety?
With September being Food Safety Month, the Defense Commissary Agency is reminding its patrons to use the guidelines of “Be Food Safe” when they handle their groceries.
“‘Be Food Safe’ is an effective and simple process for commissary patrons to help protect themselves from foodborne illnesses while they transport their groceries and once they bring their purchases home,” said Army Col. Michael A. Buley, director of the Defense Commissary Agency’s public health and safety directorate. “A momentary lapse in food safety vigilance can turn a delicious meal into a trip to the doctor’s office.”
“Effective food safety is a continuous, nonstop process that begins with farmers, continues with suppliers and retailers, and ends with the consumer,” said Chris Wicker, a public health advisor at DeCA headquarters.
The “Be Food Safe” message is simple: clean, separate, cook and chill. The Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Food Safety Inspection Service recommend the following safe handling techniques:
Clean
• Wash hands with warm soapy water for 20 seconds before and after handling raw meat, poultry or seafood.
• Wash utensils, cutting boards, dishes and countertops with hot soapy water after preparing each food item and before you go on to prepare the next item.
• Food contact surfaces can be sanitized with a freshly made solution of 1 tablespoon of unscented, liquid chlorine bleach in 1 gallon of water.
Separate
• Separate raw meat, poultry and seafood from other foods in your grocery shopping cart and in your refrigerator.
• If possible, use one cutting board for fresh produce and a separate one for raw meat, poultry and seafood.
• Never place cooked food on a plate that previously held raw meat, poultry or seafood.
Cook
• Cook poultry to a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 F as measured with a food thermometer.
Chill
• Chill food promptly and properly. Refrigerate or freeze perishables, prepared foods and leftovers within two hours (or one hour if temperatures are above 90 F).
Wicker said one often overlooked part of food safety is the manner in which commissary patrons move their groceries from the store checkout to their refrigerator.
“Germs in a dirty reusable shopping bag, leaving perishables without a cooler in a hot car for an extended period of time, and failing to separate foods that can cross contaminate – all of these factors and more can lead to a food safety disaster,” he said.
A few more tips for handling food safely can be found at www.homefoodsafety.org:
• Use hand sanitizer to wipe hands and the handle of the shopping cart.
• Clean hands before sampling food. Either bring moist towelettes or carry a bottle of hand sanitizer to use before you taste.
• If you use reusable grocery bags, wash them often.
• Check food packages for holes, tears or openings. Frozen foods should be solid with no signs of thawing.
• Check for a loose lid on jars whose seals seem tampered with or damaged. Report a defective cap to the store manager.
• Avoid buying cans that are deeply dented, bulging, rusting or have a dent on either the top or side seam.
• Use plastic bags to separate raw meat, poultry and seafood before placing them in your cart to avoid contaminating ready-to-eat foods like bread or produce.
• When shopping, select perishable foods last before checkout and group them together.
• Take groceries home immediately and store them right away. If on an extended trip, bring a cooler with chill packs for perishable foods. Perishable foods must be refrigerated within two hours and only one hour if it is over 90 F outside.
• Keep perishable foods out of the hot trunk in summer and place in the air-conditioned car instead.
For more food safety information, visit http://www.commissaries.com and choose “News & Info” then “Food Safety” from the dropdown menu. You can also choose “Links” then “Health/Food Safety” to see a list of websites on the latest health and safety reports and information from other agencies.
To find the latest food safety alerts and product recalls affecting military commissaries, visit http://www.commissaries.com and click on the “Food & Product Recalls” box on the front page.
For more food handling techniques, go to http://www.homefoodsafety.org/food-poisoning/food-safety-start-at-the-store.
About DeCA: The Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of commissaries providing groceries to military personnel, retirees and their families in a safe and secure shopping environment. Commissaries provide a military benefit and make no profit on the sale of merchandise. Authorized patrons purchase items at cost plus a five-percent surcharge, which covers the costs of building new commissaries and modernizing existing ones. By shopping regularly in the commissary, patrons save an average of 30 percent or more on their purchases compared to commercial prices – savings amounting to thousands of dollars annually. A core military family support element, and a valued part of military pay and benefits, commissaries contribute to family readiness, enhance the quality of life for America’s military and their families, and help recruit and retain the best and brightest men and women to serve their country.
| Date Taken: | 09.10.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 09.10.2015 15:36 |
| Story ID: | 175616 |
| Location: | FORT LEE, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 81 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Proper care of groceries reduces foodborne illnesses, by Kevin Robinson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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