Eng101!: Final research paper 12/5/13

Julisa Centeno

Eng101 Final Draft

12/4/13

Dr. Jason Smith

How dirty is your food?

Ever thought about how dirty your food is? Many people never clean their hands or the surfaces they cook on, they also don’t separate their foods. Cross contamination is the process by which bacteria or other microorganisms are unintentionally transferred from one substance to another, with harmful effect. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention every year in the United States over forty eight million illnesses occur, there are over one hundred twenty eight thousand hospitalizations, and more than three thousand deaths caused by organisms that cause harmful even fatal diseases. I believe all people should join The Partnership for Food Safety. Every year billions of people get sick from foodborne bacteria. The Partnership for Food Safety’s mission is to put an end to illnesses and deaths from foodborne illness in the United States. They teach us why washing your hands and surfaces are extremely important when dealing with food, why separating your food avoids cross contamination that may cause fatal diseases, why cooking your food to the proper temperature can kill bacteria that can kill you or the people you love, and most of all why certain foods should remain refrigerated. These four simple steps can avoid many foodborne illnesses such as E. coli, Salmonella, and Norovirus.

Bacteria can spread across anything and on to anywhere. Before touching any type of food one must always make sure to wash their hands often with warm water for at least thirty seconds before and after handing any type of food. Washing your hands and surfaces often make a huge difference. When washing your hands and cleaning surface you can avoid bacteria that can spread on the any forks, spoons, knifes, and plates that you eat on. When cleaning any surface it is often a good idea to use paper towels that can be thrown away. Many times when using cloths bacteria gets stuck within, causing the bacteria to transfer from one counter to another. When deciding to use cloths it is a good idea to often put the cloths in a pot with boiling water and steam them. This causes all bacteria to die, which avoids any type of bacteria to travel within your home. Many times it is never noticed how many things are touched throughout the day that carries bacteria, yet it is still managed to go to fast food restaurants and eat food without washing your hands. Washing your hands is not only one of the most important things to do, it is a crucial to do to avoid bacteria or any type of food borne illnesses that can be fatal.

Most times cross contamination causes bacteria to spread. When cooking any type of raw meat it is never good to cut the meat on the same cutting board as to where you cut your vegetables. Doing so can cause many types of bacteria such as E. coli, Salmonella, and Norovirus. E. coli is a type of bacteria that may cause diarrhea, problems breathing, vomiting and even urinary tract infections also known as (UTI’s). Salmonella is another type of bacteria that causes fever, headache, and cramps. Although it is not deadly it is extremely painful and lasts up to a week. Norovirus is a very common virus. This virus can even be passed on person by person. The symptoms of Norovirus are extreme abdominal pains, vomiting, and diarrhea. As you can see all of these viruses are caused by bacteria. Bacteria can be transferred easily not only by cross contamination but by just touching a surface and shaking a person’s hand.

Undercooked food is never healthy. Undercooked food carries bacteria that can be deadly. All food should be cooked to proper temperatures. Food thermometers can check the internal temperature of any type of food being cooked. Many types of food especially foods like egg, and raw meat should be made sure to be cooked at a high temperature to kill any living bacteria that may cause fatal diseases. Many people don’t know that when cooking in a microwave oven food never reaches the right amount of heat temperature. Microwave ovens many times either multiply bacteria or it does not kill them. This may cause diseases to go around not only to whoever uses it but there is a risk of verbally transmitting bacteria to innocent people who you may know. Billions of people enjoy eating out at fast food restaurants. Little do they know that many fast food restaurants cook their foods in microwaves. This causes over one hundred thousand people a year to suffer from stomach viruses. Although stomach viruses last up to twenty four hours they can be fatal. Stomach viruses can go up to a whole year’s lifetime causing the death of millions of people. Due to microwaves out in fast food restaurants hundreds of people a year die from stomach viruses due to undercooked meals that carry living bacteria that causes death.

Maintaining food chilled and refrigerated is extremely important. Many types of foods such as eggs, meat, and vegetables should always be maintained in a chilled area. When meat is left out of a refrigerated area after two hours bacteria quickly begins to multiply. Keeping these types of food at, at lease a forty degrees Fahrenheit can prevent many foodborne illnesses. There are many ways to defrost foods at a chilled temperature, for example meat can be defrosted in water or the microwave. However, it must be cooked immediately after being defrosted. Foods that have to be chilled can also be defrosted in the refrigerator. Although it takes a bit longer it avoids bacteria from multiplying or even spreading. When food is left over it is always good to separate into different containers so that it may cool faster to avoid bacteria from getting in. Although it is good to keep food refrigerated, it is also good to dispose of any food that has been refrigerated ten to twelve days or more. When food stays refrigerated for too long it tends to rot, shrink, or even contaminate other foods in its surroundings. Many people don’t have thermometers in the fridges, and if they do they don’t even know it. Thermometers can be extremely important. Depending on the temperature of the food in a refrigerator will many times help you know whether or not you should keep or dispose of your food. For example, milk, depending on the temperature of your refrigerator the milk will be good if the temperature is below zero degrees it will freeze if It’s above forty degrees it will rot, but if it’s in between twenty to forty degrees it will be just fine. Keeping your food chilled can even save you money.

The Partnership for Food Safety teaches many things. They teach how to keep food safe from bacteria. Due to so many deaths The Partnership for Food Safety came up with these three easy important ways to fight bacteria, (CSCC) also known as clean, separate, cook and chill. They have taught many people that by cleaning and washing their hands continuously helps avoid transferring bacteria on from one place to another. They have also helped many people to learn to separate their foods to avoid cross-contamination, too cook food to the right temperature to keep bacteria from staying locked in raw meats, eggs, and fish and most of all to keep all food refrigerated accordingly to avoid bacteria from spreading. I believe many families should join The Partnership for Food safety because it is a constant reminder of how important it is to keep all types of foods in good health conditions, so that you can help avoid cross contamination or even the spread of any type of bacteria that can cause serious illnesses to hundreds of people in the United States. The Partnership for Food safety is an incredible way to help many families stay safe and healthy it teaches many people many ways to avoid foodborne illnesses such as E. coli, Salmonella, and Norovirus.