In the News - July 2008
One oft-overlooked campus essential: food safety
STAR CITY, Ark. - Many college students, with their hectic lifestyles, end up
eating meals that are convenient, without giving much thought food safety
measures.
Jane Newton, Lincoln County Family and Consumer Sciences extension agent with
the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, said, "One often-overlooked
item that can be very useful to college students is a food thermometer."
Food thermometers can be used to ensure that prepared food reaches the
appropriate internal temperature.
"Food-borne bacteria grow fastest at temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees
F and can double in number every 20 minutes," she said.
Newton recommends that college students follow four basic principles when
preparing foods:
- Wash hands and preparation surfaces often - before beginning to
cook or reheat any food and always after handling any raw foods.
- Separate raw meat, poultry, and egg products from cooked foods
to avoid cross-contamination. Never place cooked hamburgers on the
same plate or container that was used to carry them to the grill.
- Always use a food thermometer.
- Refrigerate everything promptly.
When cooking in a microwave, foods need to be covered. Stir or rearrange the
food and rotate the dish one or more times during cooking. Use a food
thermometer to ensure the food reaches the appropriate internal temperature
(never less than 140 degrees F.)
"Perishable food, such as pizza, should never be left out more than two hours
- one hour in hot temperatures - before being refrigerated," said Newton. "Even
if there are no meat products on the pizza, food-borne bacteria can still be
present."
A favorite college activity is tailgating. "If the tailgating party includes
hamburgers, there is only one way to assure that the hamburger is done - use a
food thermometer," she said, adding that the color of cooked ground beef should
never be used to measure doneness because ground beef can turn brown before
bacteria are destroyed.
"A hamburger cooked to 160 degrees F, measured with a food thermometer
throughout the patty, is safe to eat," Newton said.
For more information about food thermometers and food safety, please contact
your county extension agent or visit www.uaex.edu. The
Cooperative Extension Service is part of the U of A Division of Agriculture.
July 25, 2008
Media Contact: Lamar James
Extension Communications Specialist
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
(501) 671-2187 or (501) 753-0207
ljames@uaex.edu
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