Food Safety Weblog

SafeFood© THANKS

Producers in Iowa are busily wrapping up the harvest season, which was delayed due to weather conditions. Forget skateboarders and bungee jumpers - farmers are the ultimate risk takers. Each year some literally bet the farm that the crop and market prices will carry them through another year. During this holiday season, please think about what you eat and how it was prepared. Respect the efforts put forth by the food producers in this country. They are true stewards of the land. Support farmers by buying their products. Give THANKS (note the caps) for our SafeFood© supply and the farmers and livestock producers who provide us with such an abundance of high quality food.

SafeFood© Shout Out for BH&G

My sister sends me an annual subscription to Better Homes and Gardens. It is fun to leaf through the magazine and see how nice homes can look (I am ok with mine falling short) and how tasty some recipes sound. It was a pleasant surprise last month to see the article about how retail food service safety tips can be used in homes. Author did a great job of explaining about the importance of temperature controls, keeping hands and food contact surfaces clean (and even dousing with a home-made sanitizer of bleach water), and separating raw foods away from cooked foods and clean away from soiled items. Culinary students call it cooking clean. Consumers can do it too!!

SafeFood© for Juno

In April, I wondered aloud about a movie with a SafeFood© theme. When watching the movie Juno, the generation gap of 30 plus years came through loud and clear. I was as perplexed as the the step mother the entire movie wondering “What is this girl thinking?” "Why is she acting this way?" IObviously, there is a generational issue. Is there a generation gap in the way we view food safety? Is there a gender gap? We all know the importance of knowing the audience, or in the retail world, knowing your customer. A mom will probably tell the 3 year old to wash hands so “the will germs go away” rather than say it will remove harmful pathogens. Maybe a problem those of us in academia have is in our delivery – SafeFood© for thought.

Submitted Catherine Strohbehn, PhD, RD, CP-FS November 9, 2009

SafeFood© for Boomers

Many baby boomers are now over the age of 60. Welcome folks to the “EPIC” population – those most vulnerable to experiencing a foodborne illness! (Note: The E stands for Elderly – which just doesn’t seem right for this active group)
It has hit home as my husband is in the first wave of Boomers, now 61 years of age and I am at the tail end of the Boom. As someone cautious about food storage and handling, vigilant about handwashing and recontamination of hands when exiting restrooms, and emphatic about doing it (coughing and sneezing) into my sleeve, I really get irritated at the cavalier approach taken by many (obviously these are folks who firmly believe in the 5-second rule). So I focus on things I can control - that is about all any of us can do. As more Boomers hit the E category, maybe there will be more widespread adoption of these consumer control actions.
Submitted by Catherine Strohbehn, PhD, RD, CP-FS October 19, 2009