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Food Safety at Work

Have you ever had an argument with an older relative about what is safe to eat, and what's not? We’ve all been there. Food was placed on the table at noon, and left out for everyone to snack on. At 10 that night, you tell someone that things need to be thrown out, mainly the turkey that had sat out at room temperature for 10 hours. After a heated discussion,you lose the argument and the following morning, someone is sick from the food.Vomiting, diarrhea, fever, chills: The classic symptoms of food poisoning. You may have found it difficult to prevent yourself from saying “Told you so!”

Facts

Bacteria can grow on food left out at room temperature. You may think that can't be true because you have eaten such food before. Notice “can”, and not “will”. Food left out for 2 hours, on average, has a 40% chance of having bacteria multiplying to the point of making someone sick. Leave it out 5 hours and it's up to 90%. Of course, this does not always happen.If you have a healthy immune system, and the right spores of bacteria happen to not be present, you just might luck out. Do you feel like taking a chance? There are some foods that have a lower risk when left at room temperature. Heavily salted foods, such as country ham, pizza, and hot dogs are all safer, but not without the possibility of contamination. Compare it to this: Would you stick your hand into a sealed box if there is a 50% chance you will be stung by a Bee?

Patients

Patients that are hospitalized often complain about the food.  While it's true most hospitals don't serve gourmet meals, they do serve healthy meals.  Regardless, as long as there are loving families of these patients, and takeout food stops along the way, those patients are going to have food brought in to them. Providing there are no dietary restrictions, it's harmless, unless the patient keeps it for later. People can be pretty protective of their take-out food when hospital food is the other choice. They may not be too happy to hand over left over chicken tenders, they just may want them later. If the hospital floor has a patient refrigerator, write their name on the container, and assure them that the food will be there for them for 2 days. After 2 days, it's time to toss it out, even refrigerated. Some patients may be very unhappy, but this is a safety measure, and as their nurse, it's your job, to keep them from harming themselves. 

Last of all, check the temperature on a regular basis in the patient's refrigerator. The door is often open, and it may create a warmer environment than what is safe. Adjusting the thermostat should eliminate the problem. 

Restaurants, and public eating facilities of any kind are monitored on a regular basis for food safety. Inspectors check for cleanliness, and they check oven temperature, refrigerator temps, and freezers. If they are not within regulation, they have the ability to shut them down. Of course, that does not happen in the private sector, so we all have to use common sense, and if in doubt, throw it out! There are numerous web sites that you can reference if you have questions regarding a specific food, USDA is a great source, and your local county extension office can help as well. 


Tips
- Always wash fresh fruits and vegetables
- Always wash hands with soap and warm water prior to handling foods raw         or cooked
- Keep counters and sinks clean and sanitized
- Keep sponges clean, they can be germ traps so run through the dishwasher, 
  soak in bleach, or microwave to kill bacteria
- Keep food at the correct temperature
- Invest a couple dollars in a meat thermometer to make sure everything is          cooked thoroughly
- And last of all:When in doubt, throw it out!

Freezer temperature should be – 0 degrees
Refrigerator temperature – 37 degrees




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