Do You Know What You're Eating?

NEWS There are many ways in which consumers can take a hand in promoting and ensuring food safety, both in their homes and with businesses.

Every day thousands of food safety professionals working for food processors, retailers, food service operations, manufacturers, distributors, government agencies or in academia are committed to protecting the consumer, the customer and the brand.

An industry united

“For the past 18 years, food safety professionals gather at the Food Safety Summit to discuss ‘Solutions for Today and Planning for Tomorrow’,” says Gary Ades Chairman of the Educational Advisory Board for The Food Safety Summit.

The goal is for all members of the industry to come together and make this a non-competitive issue where everyone works together to improve public health and food safety.

• When: May 8-11, 2017
• Where: Donald Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, Illinois
• Tickets: www.foodsafetysummit.com

Do you know how to cook your food?

While contaminated vegetables can certainly be harmful, animal products pose a larger risk. Beef, poultry and even eggs can be teeming with deadly bacteria, unless cooked properly. Here are the minimum safe internal temperatures and rest times you'll want to remember.

Category	Food	Temperature (ºF)	Rest Time
Ground Meat and Meat Mixtures	Beef, Pork, Veal, Lamb	160	None
Ground Meat and Meat Mixtures	Turkey, Chicken	165	None
Fresh Beef, Veal, Lamb	Steaks, Roasts, Chops	145	3 minutes
Poultry	Chicken and Turkey, whole	165	None
Poultry	Poultry breasts, roasts	165	None
Poultry	Poultry thighs, legs, wings	165	None
Poultry	Duck and Goose	165	None
Poultry	Stuffing (cooked alone or in bird)	165	None
Pork and Ham	Fresh pork	145	3 minutes
Pork and Ham	Fresh ham (raw)	145	3 minutes
Pork and Ham	Precooked ham (to reheat)	140	None
Eggs and Egg Dishes	Eggs	Cook until yolk and white are firm	None
Eggs and Egg Dishes	Egg Dishes	160	None
Leftovers and Casseroles	Leftovers	165	None
Leftovers and Casseroles	Casseroles	165	None
Seafood	Fin fish	145 or cook until flesh is opaque and separates easily with a fork	None
Seafood	Shrimp, Lobster, Crabs	Cook until flesh is pearly and opaque	None
Seafood	Clams, Oysters, Mussels	Cook until shells open during cooking	None
Seafood	Scallops	Cook until flesh is milky white or opaque and firm	None

        

What's hurting us?

These are the 10 deadliest food- and waterborne outbreaks in the USA during the last century:

• 150 deaths: typhoid fever, 1924-25
• 82 deaths: typhoid fever, 1903
• 48 deaths: streptococcus, 1911
• 36 deaths: listeria, 2011
• 28 deaths: listeria, 1985
• 22 deaths: streptococcus, 1922
• 21 deaths: listeria, 1998
• 19 deaths: botulism, 1919
• 9 deaths: salmonella typhimurium, 2008-09
• 8 deaths: listeria, 2002

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