food safety

Will The Food Sitting In Your Hot Car Make You Sick?

July 25, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Can food that stays in a hot car for a long time make you sick?

It’s hot outside. When you open your car door after it’s been sitting in the parking lot you’re hit with a blast of heat that seems hotter than an oven.

The Temperature Rises Quickly Inside A Closed Car

Very quickly — even when it’s only moderately warm outside.

A study found that at 9AM when the outside temperature was 82 degrees, the temperature inside a closed car was 109 degrees. At 1:30PM, when the outside temperature rose to 112 degrees, the temperature inside a closed car reached 124 degrees.

Cracking the windows helps, but only a little bit. With four windows cracked, at 10AM when the temperature was 88 degrees outside, inside the car it was 103 degrees. At 2PM when the outside temperature rose to 110 degrees, the internal temperature rose to 123 degrees. Certainly not safe conditions for living creatures, especially kids and dogs both of whom are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat.

Hot Weather and Food-borne Illness

Hot weather and food-borne illness can be evil partners. Forty-eight million people are affected by food-borne illnesses each year which, in the US, result in an estimated 3,000 deaths. More than 250 food-borne diseases have been identified. They are common and preventable public health challenges.

Most food-borne illnesses can be prevented with proper cooking or processing, both of which destroy harmful bacteria. It’s really important to keep cold food cold and hot food hot because food that stays set out for a long time can enter “The Danger Zone,” or temperatures between 41˚F and 140˚F where bacteria multiply most rapidly.

What About The Prepared Food You Just Bought?

Extreme heat is certainly not a safe environment for fresh and prepared food, either. Pity the poor groceries or take-out you just bought that’s sitting in extremely hot temperatures in the back of your car. Shelf, cupboard, and boxed food may be fine, but for meat, deli, dairy, cut food like fresh fruit, and prepared foods (salad, fried chicken, Chinese take-out, pizza) it’s not a good situation. Why?

When you give bacteria the conditions they like: warmth, moisture, and nutrients, they’ll grow. A single bacterium that divides every half hour can result in 17 million offspring in 12 hours.

Consequently, the food you just bought might spoil because bacteria present in the food have multiplied like rabbits in your car in the hot conditions that are ideal for food spoilage. Perishable food can stay safely unrefrigerated only for two hours if the air temperature is under 90 degrees – and only for one hour if the temperature is 90 degrees or higher. Follow this rule for picnics, barbecues, and buffets, too.

Take Pity on Your Food and Protect Your Family and Guests

Be aware of the type of food you’re buying. If you have perishable items, take some of these steps:

Think about your route and how many errands you have to do. Stop at the cleaners or for coffee before grocery shopping — not afterward when your groceries will be baking in the car.

Make wise choices. When it’s hot outside, take your perishable items straight home. If you know you can’t go straight home take steps to keep your purchases cool – or buy food that doesn’t need refrigeration.

To be on the safe side, think about keeping a cooler, cold packs, or insulated bags in your car for perishable items. Make sure the cooler hasn’t turned into a portable oven because it’s been sitting in the car for so long.

Buy a bag of ice if you need to for keeping cold stuff cold and frozen stuff frozen on the way home. Or, bring some frozen gel packs with you.

If you’re on a road trip, remember that food in your car is vulnerable. The trip to the beach and then spreading your food out on a table or a blanket means that if it’s not in a cooler, it’s been in hot conditions for a long time. Just think — in the winter your car might be colder than your refrigerator. Then there’s no problem stopping for coffee on the way home!

Road trip: is there one in your future?

The Summer issue of Eat Out Eat Well Magazine is ready to help you eat well when you’re in the car or grabbing some food at rest stops or roadside diners.

Get it now from iTunes or the Google Play Store for $1.99 an issue or $4.99 for a yearly subscription (four seasonal issues).

A Dozen Ways To Keep Grilled Food Safe To Eat

July 2, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Summer means grilling and barbecue for lots of people. It’s hard to resist juicy burgers, sizzling steaks, fish seared to perfection, and frankfurters crackling and popping and screaming for mustard and relish or sauerkraut.

The food may taste great, but picnics, barbecues, and grilling can create the perfect environment for the bacteria that already reside in food to rapidly multiply and become the cause of a foodborne illness.

It’s really important to follow safe food handling rules when you’re cooking perishable foods like meat, poultry, and seafood and Unfortunately, it’s way too easy to get a little lax about following food handling rules when the grill takes center stage.

Some Grilling Guidelines

Always wash your hands with soap and water before and after you handle the food. Did you pick up the raw burger or the piece of fish or chicken with your fingers to put it on the grill?
When you marinate your food, let the food sit in the marinade in the refrigerator — not the counter — or even worse, in the sun next to the grill. Don’t use the marinade that the raw meat or poultry sat in on the cooked food. Instead, reserve part of unused marinade to baste with or to use as a sauce.
Get those coals hot. Preheat the coals on your grill for 20 to 30 minutes, or until they are lightly coated with ash. If you’re using a gas grill, turn on the grill so it has enough time to thoroughly heat up.
When the food is cooked, don’t put it on the same platter that you used to carry the raw food out to the grill. Ditto for the tongs and spatula unless they’ve been washed first in hot, soapy water. Reusing without washing can spread bacteria from the raw juices to your cooked or ready-to-eat food. Bring a clean platter and utensils with you to the grill and remove the ones that the raw food has been on – it’s too easy to mistakenly reuse the raw food ones.
When grilled food is “ready” keep it hot until it’s served by moving it to the side of the grill rack, just away from the coals or the gas burner. This will keep it hot but prevent it from overcooking. If you reheat food, make sure it reaches 165°F.
Cook only the amount of food that you think people will eat. It’s easy to cook more, but it’s a challenge to keep leftovers at a safe temperature. Throw out any leftovers that haven’t stayed within the safe temperature range.
Use a food thermometer (make sure you have one at home and one to pack for grilling at picnics) to be certain that the food reaches a safe internal temperature. The FDA recommends:

Steaks and Roasts: 145 degrees F (medium rare), 160 degrees F (medium)
Fish: 145 degrees F
Pork: 145 degrees F
Ground beef: 160 degrees F
Egg dishes: 160 degrees F
Chicken breasts: 165 degrees F
Whole poultry: 165 degrees F
Shrimp, lobster, and crabs: cook until pearly and opaque
Clams, oysters, and mussels: cook until the shells are open

HCAs and PAHs: Two Dangerous Compounds That Can Form

Unfortunately, two types of cancer causing compounds can increase or form in some foods that are grilled or cooked at high heat.

Heterocycline amines (HCAs) increase when meat, especially beef, is cooked with high heat by grilling or pan-frying. HCAs can damage DNA and start the development of cancer. Most evidence connects them to colon and stomach cancer, but they may be linked to other types of cancer, too.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) increase with grilling because they form in smoke and can get deposited on the outside of your meat.

Five Things You Can Do to Decrease HCAs and PAHs:

Cook or fry at lower temperatures to produce fewer HCAs. You can turn the gas down or wait for charcoal’s low-burning embers.
Raise your grilling surface up higher and turn your meat very frequently to reduce charring, which is highly carcinogenic. Grilling fish takes less cooking time and forms fewer HCAs than beef, pork and poultry.
Marinate your meat. According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, marinating can reduce HCA formation by as much as 92 to 99%. Scientists think that the antioxidants in marinades help block HCA formation.
Add some spices and rubs. Rosemary and turmeric, for example, seem to block up to 40% of HCA formation because of their antioxidant activity. A study by Kansas State University found that rubbing rosemary onto meat before grilling greatly decreased HCA levels. Basil, mint, sage, and oregano may be effective, too.
Select leaner cuts of meat and trim excess fat to help reduce PAHs. Leaner cuts drip less fat – and dripping fat causes flare-ups and smoke which can deposit PAHs on your food.

How Long Can Picnic and Barbecue Food Safely Stay Unrefrigerated?

June 18, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

The picnic fixins’ or the take-out food that’s sitting in your car might turn out to be a big problem. Boxed food might be fine in high temperatures, but meat, dairy, cut food like fresh fruit, salads, and prepared foods — not so good.

Perishable food may contain bacteria that can cause food-borne illnesses. Sitting in the temperature danger zone while in your car or at a picnic or campsite can cause those bad guys to multiply dramatically.

Most bacteria don’t go crazy below 40°F or above 140°F. The temperature range in between, known as the “Danger Zone,” is where they multiply rapidly and can reach harmful levels. A single bacterium that divides every half hour can result in 17 million offspring in 12 hours!

The Temperature Rises Quickly Inside A Car

The temperature rises quickly inside a closed car — even when it’s only moderately warm outside.

A study found that at 9AM (in some very hot place!) when the outside temperature was 82 degrees, the temperature inside a closed car was 109 degrees. At 1:30PM, it was 112 degrees outside and 124 degrees inside a closed car.

Cracking the windows helped, but only a little. At 10AM, with four windows cracked, it was 88 degrees outside but 103 degrees inside the car. At 2PM at 110 degrees outside it was 123 degrees inside the car.

Picnic Food and Temperature Control

To prevent bacteria in food from rapidly multiplying — which can lead to food borne illness — food has to be kept within a temperature range.

Don’t let your picnic food stay in the “Danger Zone” (between 40° F and 140° F) for more than 2 hours, or only for one hour if the outdoor temperature is higher than 90° F.

Perishable food can stay safely unrefrigerated for two hours if the air temperature is less than 90 degrees – and only for one hour if the temperature is 90 degrees or higher.

Keep hot foods hot: above 140°F. Keep cold foods cold: below 40°F.

Remember to include preparation, storage, and serving time in determining how long food has been out of the fridge or off the heat.

Transporting, Preparing, And Serving

To prevent food-borne diseases, food safety is crucial both when you transport your food and when you prepare and serve it.

Think about the type of food you’re buying. If you have perishable items do what you have to do to keep hot food hot and cold food cold.

What’s your route and how many errands do you have? Stop to buy beer and paper plates before you pick up the food — not after food shopping while your purchased food bakes in the car.

Keep a cooler, cold packs, or insulated bags in your car for perishable items. Buy a bag of ice if necessary. Make sure the cooler hasn’t turned into a portable oven because it’s been sitting in the car for too long.

Be certain that raw meat and poultry are wrapped securely to prevent their juices from cross-contaminating other foods and from dripping on fruit and veggies that you’ve already washed.

At The Picnic Site

Food spoilage and cross-contamination are major issues when preparing and eating food outdoors in warm weather — especially when you’re at a remote site (like a camp or park) without a kitchen. Cross-contamination during preparation, grilling, and serving food is a prime cause of food-borne illness.

How will you keep things clean – not just the food, but the platters, utensils, and your hands? Is there a source of potable (drinking) water that you can use for cooking and cleaning? You don’t want to use water that’s not safe to drink to wash your food or utensils. If there isn’t, bring water or pack clean, wet cloths, moist towelettes, or paper towels for cleaning your hands and surfaces.

Wash your hands before and after handling food, and don’t use the same platter and utensils for both raw and cooked meat and poultry.

Keep hot food hot and cold food cold the entire picnic. The temperature spikes in direct sunlight so keep coolers in the shade.

Food shouldn’t be out of the cooler or off the grill for more than 2 hours (one hour when the temperature is above 90°F).

Keep perishable food like meat, chicken, and mayonnaise-based salads in the fridge and don’t stock the cooler until right before you leave home. Keep the cooler in the coolest part of the car while you’re traveling.

If you have a long trip consider freezing the food and putting it into the cooler frozen and allowing it to defrost (to a cold temperature, not warm) in transit.

Hot take-out food like ribs or chicken should be eaten within two hours of when it was plucked from the store. If you buy it ahead of time, first chill the food in your refrigerator and then before pack it in an insulated cooler.

Pack beverages in one cooler and perishable foods in another so the perishable foods won’t be repeatedly exposed to warm outdoor air temperatures as people keep opening the cooler for drinks. A full cooler will hold its cold temperature longer than one that’s partly full so pack plenty of extra ice or freezer packs to maintain a constant cold temperature.

Throw out any perishable foods from picnics or barbecues that have been kept out too long or not adequately chilled or heated. “If in doubt, throw it out.”

Leftovers: How Long Before You Have To Toss Them?

March 3, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

When you open your refrigerator door, what do you see? A bunch of random takeout boxes? Wait – there’s a couple of storage containers all the way in the back, too. Wonder what’s in them?

Open them up. Container #1: the leftover takeout moo shu pork from five days ago. Kind of a nasty odor. Container #2: half of the pasta special you brought home last night because the portion was huge. And in the storage containers? Last week’s meat sauce and some stir-fried veggies from who knows when. They’re kind of stinky too!

Big question: Can you eat any of it without getting sick?

How Long Can Food Stay Out?

According to the FDA, when you buy hot, cooked food, you should eat it right away and avoid letting it sit out at room temperature. If the food is cold, eat it within two hours of preparing it or else store it in the fridge or freeze it.

When Your Food is Delivered …

When food is delivered, you want to prevent any potentially nasty and harmful bacteria from multiplying, so eat it within two hours after it arrives (hopefully it hasn’t sat in the delivery person’s bike basket or car for too long – especially if it’s really hot outside).

If you aren’t going to eat it within two hours, keep it hot in an oven set at or above 200° F (93° C). Cover the food to keep it moist while you’re keeping it warm. Don’t guess at the temperature of the food — use a food thermometer to check that the food is kept at an internal temperature of 140° F (60° C).

The Danger Zone and The Two Hour Rule

The FDA defines the “danger zone” as the range of temperatures at which bacteria can grow. It is usually between 40° and 140° F (4° and 60° C). To keep food safe, it’s important to keep it below or above the “danger zone.”

Rules For Leftovers: 2 hours – 2 inches – 4 days

The Two Hour Rule: Throw away any perishable food (the kind that can spoil or become contaminated by bacteria if left unrefrigerated) that has been left out at room temperature for more than two hours. When the environmental temperature is above 90° F (32° C), throw out the food after one hour.

2 hours from oven to refrigerator: leftovers should be refrigerated or frozen within 2 hours of cooking or they should be thrown away.
2 Inches thick to cool it quick: food should be stored in containers at a shallow depth of about 2 inches or less, to speed the chilling time.
4 days in the refrigerator: use refrigerated leftovers within 4 days with the exception of stuffing and gravy which should be used within 2 days. Whatever you don’t finish, throw out.
If you don’t think you’ll be able to eat leftovers within four days, freeze them immediately. Uncooked foods, such as cold salads or sandwiches, should be eaten or refrigerated promptly. Your goal is to minimize the time a food is in the “danger zone” — between 40 and 140 F (4 and 60 C) — when bacteria can quickly multiply.
When you’re ready to eat leftovers, reheat them on the stove, in the oven or in the microwave. Solid leftovers should reach an internal temperature of 165 F (74 C) and liquid leftovers should be brought to a rolling boil. Slow cookers and chafing dishes aren’t recommended for reheating leftovers because they don’t get hot enough.

What You Need To Know

Your fridge’s inside temperature needs to be between 33 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit (0.5 to 4.4 degrees Celsius). Not all areas of your fridge can hold these temperatures. It’s cooler in the back, so keep food like eggs, milk, cheese, and leftovers in the back and leave the warmer front area for things like sodas, water, and beer.
Even though you put all your excess food in the fridge it can still go bad. Bacterial growth slows in colder temperatures, but it still happens.
You don’t need to wait for hot food to cool before putting it in the fridge. When you leave food out to cool you give the bacteria the chance to multiply.
Use shallow covered containers, 3 inches tall or less and leave some air space around them to promote rapid, even cooling of the food. Large, deep containers allow the food in the center of the container to remain warm for a longer time.
When you store leftovers, cover them to keep in moisture and to prevent them from drying out. Covering hot leftovers and immediately putting them into a cold fridge can cause condensation so try letting them cool, uncovered, in the fridge for a few minutes before covering to minimize condensation. Or put the containers in an ice or cold water bath to cool them as quickly as possible before storing them in the refrigerator.

Forget the Sight and Smell Test

Bacteria don’t typically change the way food tastes, smells, or looks, so the sight and smell test most of us use to determine if food is good or not isn’t worth a hill of beans. Many foods might be rotten but still smell and even taste okay (unlike sour milk!). If you’re at all in doubt, throw it out!

Leftover Turkey? How Long Can You Keep It?

November 27, 2013 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Did you roast an 18 pound turkey? Maybe you roasted two smaller ones so you could have four drumsticks. Inevitably, most of us will have a whole lot of leftover turkey.

What do you do with all of that leftover bird? Is it alright to eat it after it’s been sitting out from the time it came out of the oven, through dinner, dessert, and two loads run through the dishwasher?

Once it’s in the fridge, how long can it stay there? Are you certain the leftovers are safe to eat?

Once Your Bird Is Cooked, Does It Matter How Long You Leave It Out?

Yes, yes, yes! According to the Centers for Disease Control the number of reported cases of food borne illness (food poisoning) increases during the holiday season. You shouldn’t leave food out for more than two hours. To save turkey leftovers, remove the stuffing from the cavity, cut the turkey off the bone, and refrigerate or freeze all leftovers.

The Basic Rules For Leftovers

According to the USDA the mantra is:

2 Hours–2 Inches–4 Days

2 Hours from oven to refrigerator: Refrigerate or freeze your leftovers within 2 hours of cooking. Throw them away if they are out longer than that.
2 Inches thick to cool it quick: Store your food at a shallow depth–about 2 inches–to speed chilling.
4 Days in the refrigerator–otherwise freeze it: Use your leftovers that are stored in the fridge within 4 days. The exceptions are stuffing and gravy. Both should be used within 2 days. Reheat solid leftovers to 165 degrees F and liquid leftovers to a rolling boil. Toss what you don’t finish.

How Long Can Leftover Turkey Stay In The Freezer?

Frozen leftover turkey, stuffing, and gravy should be used within one month.

To successfully freeze leftovers:

package them properly using freezer wrap or freezer containers. Use heavy-duty aluminum foil, freezer paper, or freezer bags for best results and don’t leave any air space.
Squeeze the excess air from the freezer bags and fill rigid freezer containers to the top with dry food. Without proper packaging, circulating air in the freezer can create freezer burn – those white dried-out patches on the surface of food that make it tough and tasteless.
Leave a one-inch headspace in containers with liquid and half an inch in containers filled with semi-solids.