COOKING SAFETY AND INFORMATION ON FOOD SAFETY:BEEF JERKY AND THE DECLINE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

COOKING SAFETY AND INFORMATION ON FOOD SAFETY:BEEF JERKY AND THE DECLINE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE OR WAS IT THE EGYPTIANS?

WHERE CAN YOU FIND RELIABLE INFORMATION ON FOOD SAFETY AND PREPARATION

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Food may be hazardous to your health! Do you know how to cook that hamburger? Whether it's the latest scary headline about pesticides in poultry or E.coli in an eatery. It's hard to stay on top of all the food recalls and safety advice.













Where do you get reliable information about food safety? Good places to start are:

United States Dept. of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service

www.FoodSafety.gov

Safe Handling of Take Out Foods and Bacteria in Foodborne Illness

There is the always popular

Safe Handling of Takeout Foods

Foodborne Illness: What Consumers
Need to Know
which is actually quite an illuminating introduction to some important knowledge about food illness and a list of some of the common bacteria that are among the most dangerous of harmful bacteria in food. Bacteria such as:

Clostridium botulinum

Escherichia coli O157:H7

Listeria monocytogenes

Salmonella (over 2300 types)

Shigella (over 30 types)

Now We Know What Happened to the Roman Empire

Ancient Civilizations Ate Jerky

Here's a title that really grabs your attention

Food Safety of Jerky which is just about one and a half times as much about beef and poultry jerky as I have ever wanted to know. Apparently jerky has a long and illustrious history tracing it's lineage back thousands of years. "Jerky is a food known at least since ancient Egypt. Humans made jerky from animal meat that was too big to eat all at once, such as bear, buffalo, or whales. North American Indians mixed ground dried meat with dried fruit or suet to make "pemmican." "Biltong" is dried meat or game used in many African countries. Our word "jerky" came from the Spanish word "charque."

Ground Beef Preparation: Safety Tips from the Food Safety and Inspection Service

Do you think preparing ground beef is a no brainer? Here is what they say at the FSIS site about how to safely prepare ground beef: Consumers preparing ground beef products should heed the following advice.

Consumers should only eat ground beef patties that have been cooked to a safe temperature of 160 ºF. When a ground beef patty is cooked to 160 ºF throughout, it can be safe and juicy, regardless of color.

The only way to be sure a ground beef patty is cooked to a high enough temperature to kill harmful bacteria is to use an accurate digital instant-read thermometer.

Color is not a reliable indicator that ground beef patties have been cooked to a temperature high enough to kill harmful bacteria.

Eating a pink or red ground beef patty without first verifying that the safe temperature of 160 ºF has been reached is a significant risk factor for food borne illness.

Thermometer use to ensure proper cooking temperature is especially important for those who cook or serve ground beef patties to people most at risk for food borne illness because certain pathogens can lead to serious illness or even death. Those most at risk include young children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems.




This site has alot of interesting information, for example, consumers with food safety questions can phone the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHOTLINE .