Preventing Foodborne Illness: Talking to Patients about Food Safety

How to know foodborne illness

 I just saw a patient with a serious case of foodborne illness, or food poisoning as most people call it. foodborne illness has a wide range of symptoms and can go from "something I ate doesn't agree with me" to being bad enough to cause a serious health problem or even death, and most foodborne illnesses symptoms don't present right away. It often takes 24 to 48 hours after eating the contaminated food, but in some instances, the incubation period may be longer. Based on what this patient told me, we aren't sure if it's from a restaurant or from food she prepared at home.

That’s why patients should understand that everyone has a role to play in ensuring food safety: farmers, food companies, transporters, retailers, consumers, and the government. In fact, the F.D.A (Food and Drug Administration) issued regulations to carry out the F.D.A food safety modernization act of 2011. This was the most sweeping reform of food safety laws in more than 70 years. 

The new rules require food producers to do more to identify and prevent problems before they might happen, and they set science-based safety standards for growing, harvesting, and packing produce, but sometimes contaminated food still reaches consumers, and the government can't regulate how consumers handle food. That’s why we all need to know how to minimize the risk, especially for our patients who are at higher risk

• pregnant women,

• young children,

• older adults,

• and people with immune systems weakened by illness or medical treatment.

Keeping the family safe is a priority in any household, so here are 4 basic steps to prevent foodborne illness in the home.

1. wash your hands 
   

   Washing hands often with warm or cold water and soap for at least 20 seconds before and after handling food, using the bathroom, changing diapers, or handling pets. Cleaning fruits and vegetables is important in order to get rid of soil that may remain on the produce, but there are a variety of other reasons to clean.

2. rinse all produce thoroughly under cold water
   

   It helps to reduce your risk and use a vegetable brush, especially on fruits and vegetables that have a skin or rind that won't be eaten. Rinse produce before you cut it because if there are bacteria, viruses, or other disease-causing microorganisms on that skin and you cut it with a knife, that knife can carry that pathogen right into the fruit. 

3. clean surfaces after preparing raw meat
   

   clean your cutting boards and other surfaces between preparing raw meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs and preparing foods that won't be cooked, like salad veggies, so you don't contaminate the other foods, or use separate cutting boards. 

4. separate your raw meat from other food
   
   just as you separate your raw meat from other groceries in your shopping cart to avoid cross-contamination, do the same thing in your refrigerator. Never put raw meat, poultry, seafood, or fresh eggs anywhere where they may contaminate ready-to-eat food. i'm going to put this chicken in the fridge to marinate for a couple hours, and I don't want it to be above or near my veggies just in case the bag leaks.

Some people like to reuse marinades for sauces and gravies, but 

• never reuse marinades that were used with raw meats unless you bring them to a boil first so that you kill any pathogens.

• food is safely cooked when it reaches a high enough internal temperature to kill the harmful pathogens that cause illness. It’s very handy. Once you know the temperature your meat should be cooked to, check it with a food thermometer. While the chicken is cooking, I want to talk about refrigeration. You should refrigerate or freeze meat, poultry, eggs, seafood, and other perishables within two hours of purchasing or cooking.

• cold temperatures slow the growth of harmful bacteria, but don't overstuff the fridge. Cold air needs to circulate to keep food safe. Your refrigerator should be 40 degrees Fahrenheit or colder, and your freezer should be zero degrees Fahrenheit or colder. A lot of refrigerators don't have a temperature gauge.