food-safety-msg - 5/2/11

Comments and suggestions for serving food safely in the SCA.

NOTE: See also the files: Food-Safety-art, kitchen-tips-msg, cooks-clothng-msg, child-kitchen-msg, ingred-lists-msg, kitchen-clean-msg, kitchn-safety-msg, out-fst-safe-msg.

************************************************************************
NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.

Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
************************************************************************

Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2006 19:03:52 -0500
From: Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise <jenne at fiedlerfamily.net>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] food safety info
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Was looking through the Library Journal Food Safety collection
development article, and noticed these:

Food Safety at Temporary Events:
http://www.foodprotection.org/publications/Booklets/ 
Food_Safety_Temp._Events.pdf

Gateway to Government Food Safety Information:
www.foodsafety.gov

FightBAC : www.fightbac.org

Pamphlet on Food safety during and after an emergency situation:
http://www.foodprotection.org/publications/Booklets/ 
Rev._Disaster_Strikes.pdf

Food Safety Throughout the Food System:
http://foodsafety.cas.psu.edu/
-- 
-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net 


Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2010 12:11:50 -0500
From: Michael Gunter <dookgunthar at hotmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] A quick food safety guide

Looking through Steven Raichlen's site I came across this very concise food safety guide.
Unless you know all of this in your head I think it is a good idea to print this out and put it someplace you will be cooking. 

One of the biggest factors in foodborne-illness outbreaks is time-temperature abuse. Disease-causing bacteria microorganisms grow and multiply at temperatures between 41 degrees F and 135 degrees F. Whenever food is held in the temperature danger range, it is being abused. 

Common opportunities for time-temperature abuse throughout the flow of food include: 
-- Not cooking food to its required minimum internal temperature 
-- Not cooling food properly 
-- Failing to reheat food to 165 degrees F for fifteen seconds within two hours (If the food falls below the minimum temperature requirement of 140 degrees F, it has to be reheated to 165 degrees F for 15 seconds, minimum, within two hours.) 
-- Failing to hold food at a minimum internal temperature of 135 defrees F or higher or 41 degrees F or lower 

Ground Meats -- including: beef, pork, and other meat or fish. 

Minimum internal temperature 155 degrees F for 15 seconds. 

Most whole-muscle cuts of meat are likely to have microorganisms only on their surface. When meat is ground, microorganisms on the surface are mixed throughout the product. 

Ground meat may also be cooked to the following alternative internal temperatures: 
-- 145 degrees F for 3 minutes 
-- 150 degrees F for 1 minute 
-- 155 degrees F for 15 seconds 
-- 158 degrees F for <1 second 

Pork, Beef, Veal, Lamb 

steaks/chops 145 degrees for 15 seconds 

roasts 145 degrees for 4 minutes 

This temperature is high enough to destroy Trichinella spp. larvae that might have contaminated pork. 

Depending on the type of roast and the oven used, roasts may be cooked to the following alternative internal temperatures. 

-- 130 degrees F for 112 minutes 
-- 131 degrees F for 89 minutes 
-- 133 degrees F for 56 minutes 
-- 135 degrees F for 36 minutes 
-- 136 degrees F for 28 minutes 
-- 138 degrees F for 18 minutes 
-- 140 degrees F for 12 minutes 
-- 142 degrees F for 8 minutes 
-- 144 degrees F for 5 minutes 
-- 144 degrees F for 4 minutes 

Stuffed Fish (or Stuffing Containing Fish) 

165 degrees F for 15 seconds 

Ground, chopped, or minced fish 
155 degrees F for 15 seconds 

Cooked vegetables must never be held at room temperatures 

Commercially processed, Ready to eat food that will be hot-held for service 

135 degrees F for 15 seconds 

This includes items such as: cheese sticks, deep-fried vegetables, chicken wings, etc. 

Cross contamination of food. 

If you don't do this, please consider it. When you prepare food, do you use the same cutting board and utensils for all your food? If so, STOP. 

Use different cutting boards and utensils for each type of food. Example: one for poultry, a second for other meats, and a third for vegetables. Consider different colored boards and handles. If you don't, make sure you sanitize all your items before going to another type of food. 

And don't forget to wash and dry your hands as well. 

Recommended requirements for storing food: 

Meat: -- store fresh at an internal temperature of 41 degrees F or lower 
Poultry -- Store fresh at an internal temperature of 41 degrees F or lower 
Fish -- Store fresh at an internal temperature of 41 degrees F or lower 
Shellfish -- Store alive at an internal temperature of 45 degrees F or lower 
Eggs -- Store fresh at an internal temperature of 45 degrees F or lower 
Dairy -- Store fresh at an internal temperature of 41 degrees F or lower 
Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt -- Store frozen at a temperature of 6 degrees F to 10 degrees F 

To hold food at a specific internal temperature, refrigerator air temperature should be at least 2 degrees F lower than the desired temperature. 

Keep freezer temperature at 0 degrees F or lower unless the food you are storing requires a different temperature. 

Use caution when placing food into a freezer. Warm food can raise the temperature inside the unit and partially thaw the food inside. Store food to allow good air circulation. Overloading a freezer makes it work harder, and make it harder to find and rotate food properly. 

Lining shelves with aluminum foil or paper restricts circulation of cold air in the unit. 

Never place hot food in the refrigerator. This can warm the interior enough to put other food in the temperature danger zone.

<Directly stolen from Steven Raichlen's website>

Gunthar 			  		 

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	food-safety-msg	4 of 4