September highlights awareness of foodborne illnesses

Keeping foodborne illnesses at bay is a constant job, one shared by retailers and consumers alike, Defense Commissary Agency officials say.

“Commissaries inspect the product pipeline, from the farm to the supplier to the store shelf,” said Col. Alisa R. Wilma, director of DeCA’s Public Health and Safety. “However, that responsibility doesn’t stop with our military veterinarians and store food safety specialists. Our patrons also have a responsibility to protect themselves from foodborne illnesses that could result from mishandling food.”

In observance of Food Safety Education Month in September, DeCA joins the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety Inspection Service, the Department of Health and Human Services and other organizations to help prevent foodborne illnesses by increasing awareness of improperly handling food items.

According to the CDC, each year an estimated one-in-six Americans get sick while 3,000 die from foodborne illnesses. The five most common illnesses are listeria, salmonella, E. coli, vibrio vulnificus and botulism.

“We preach the ‘Be Food Safe’ guidelines because they’re an easy tool for our patrons to use at home in reducing the risk of foodborne illnesses,” Wilma said. “You’d be surprised how many potential problems can be prevented just by washing your hands before, during and after handling food.”

The “Be Food Safe” message, developed by the CDC and the USDA, is simple: clean, separate, cook and chill. They are the basis for 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).

• Wilma said commissary patrons should always bring a cooler during a long trip to help prevent spoilage by maintaining proper temperatures of foods on the trip home.

• “Preventing cross contamination is also very important,” she said. “That’s why patrons must keep different perishable foods separated, whether the groceries are in the shopping cart or in the car.”

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 loose lids 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.

The DeCA website is a good resource for food safety. To find the latest food safety alerts and product recalls affecting military commissaries, visit the News Room on commissaries.com and select the box that says “Food Recall.”

For more on food safety awareness, go to the CDC website. Information on food handling techniques is also available at Eatright.org.