China Daily reports that China’s Ministry of Education has ordered local education departments to inspect sanitary conditions and the cleanliness of food and drinking water in all schools in their jurisdictions.
The ministry on Thursday issued a circular concerning responsibility for food security in schools, in response to two recent food poisoning incidents among students.
Katherine Nichols of the Star Bulletin reports that it doesn’t seem possible that the dull and rather distasteful topic of food safety could be amusing and even entertaining — until you hear Henry "Food Cop" Holthaus tackle the material.
Chef Henry, a chef-instructor at Kapiolani Community College, has been teaching culinary students about food safety
According to the University of Arkansas, Food Safety Consortium, the newly activated Center for Food Safety at the University of Arkansas is taking an aggressive approach to its mission and the director knows his plan: prevent the problem before it arises.
"We’ve always operated on the premise of containment and reduction of pathogens," Steven C.
Harry Eagar of MauiNews.com reports that state epidemiologists are investigating whether several illnesses on Maui in the last few weeks were caused by spoiled Spam musubi and, if they were, whether there was a connection.
Whether there was a common source or not, health officials are taking the opportunity to alert consumers to some not-so-obvious dangers with familiar local snacks.
This is not your mother’s Spam musubi.
Lance Wong, supervisor of the Food and Drug Branch of the Department of Health, says that in the old days, Spam musubi was made a few at a time by mom-and-pop stores and sold to workers for lunch.Continue Reading Food poisoning cases investigated
Commentary from the Food Safety Network’s Dr. Douglas Powell
In May, 1943, Edsel Bryant Ford, son of auto magnate Henry Ford, died at the age of 49 in Detroit, of what some claimed was a broken heart. Biology, however, decreed that Ford died of undulant fever, apparently brought on by drinking unpasteurized milk from the Ford dairy herd, at the behest of his father’s mistaken belief that all things natural must be good.Continue Reading Once again Dr. Powell says it like it is – the truth
Many young adults ages 18 to 31 think it’s OK to defrost frozen food on the counter — a practice that could lead to sickness, says a U.S. survey.
Thirty-five percent say how leftovers should be kept in the refrigerator is the single biggest kitchen mystery, according to a survey of 539 young Americans conducted
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) recently advised consumers that cooking raw poultry to a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees will eliminate pathogens and viruses. Past food safety guidelines recommended higher temperatures for some poultry products.
Scientific research indicates that foodborne pathogens and viruses, such as salmonella, campylobacter and the avian influenza virus, are destroyed when poultry is cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. It’s important to use a food thermometer to check internal temperature.
In addition, LSU AgCenter nutritionist Dr. Beth Reames says consumers should follow important tips for handling raw poultry. She says these tips can be summarized in three words –clean, separate and chill. Clean means to wash hands and surfaces often; separate means to keep raw meat and poultry apart from cooked foods; chill means to refrigerate or freeze foods promptly.Continue Reading The Magic Number Is 165 When Cooking Poultry
The non-profit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has hit out against the possibility of new food legislation being put in place.
More than 220 state and local food safety and labeling laws – including restaurant hygiene codes, milk pasteurization requirements, and even some states’ warnings to pregnant women about drinking alcohol – would be killed if a controversial bill before the Senate becomes law, the CSPI said in a recent statement.Continue Reading Food protection act threatens state food safety laws, says CSPI
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reports that several foodborne illness outbreaks in Minnesota that have been linked with certain types of frozen entrees have prompted the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) to alert consumers of the need to cook these products safely.
The frozen entrees in question contain boneless chicken that may be breaded, stuffed or filled. Because these products are often stuffed or filled with additional ingredients, they may take longer to reach a safe, internal cooking temperature of 165 degrees F than consumers might expect.Continue Reading KDHE, USDA alert consumers to safely cook certain kinds of frozen chicken entrees
The National Meat Association reports that late last month, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced the “Safe and Fair Enforcement and Recall for Meat, Poultry and Food (SAFER) Act.” S. 3615 would give the USDA and FDA mandatory recall authority. It would also require companies to notify USDA or FDA if they have reason to believe