They call me…Tater Salad.

Posted on September 10, 2007 by admin

Mmm…nothing starts off the semester like a well-charred burger and a heaping pile of tater salad. But like Ron White, this tater salad should not be out in pub-lic.
I was recently a guest at a “welcome back” picnic along with about fifty other students. A few of the dozen or so faculty in attendance grilled up a box full of beef patties and tossed them in a pile for us all to assemble and consume in traditional picnic fashion. I looked them over, picked a luke warm specimen out of the bunch and threw it on a bun with ketchup. But was it done? It certainly looked done, but charred as it may appear, color is no indicator of doneness.
The star of the show, however, was really the five tubs of Kroger brand Mustard Potato Salad lying open on the adjacent table. “Poop Salad" as it was recently dubbed by a ColumbusING blogger from Columbus, Ohio, where E. coli O157:H7 was found in the salads during a routine safety check. This was after the product was distributed and sold, of course. (That’s just the way these things work.) So Kroger did the socially responsible thing and issued a recall in attempt to remove the possibly tainted salad out of the refrigerators of innocent people and dispose of it properly.
So how does a recall happen? The information goes out: newspapers are picking up the story, TV news crews are spreading the word, satellites in outer space are linking up… but people are sitting around eating recalled potato salad like there’s just a little guy in a booth tapping Morse code and sad little beepings just can’t keep up.
It’s sad that it seems so true. Somebody out there is not keeping up. But who? During the recent Castleberry chili recall people were still eating the stuff, not knowing there could be a botulism toxin inside, weeks after the recall was announced.
How do we get people to care about the safety of the food they eat? “I was tainted on a production line (possibly),” the tater salad cries. “You threw me…in-to pub-lic.” But the public isn’t paying any attention.

Casey Wilkinson is an undergrad research student at iFSN, and she loves her mom’s tater salad.

It’s delicious… It’s tailgating!

Posted on September 8, 2007 by Amy Hubbell

In college football, the Kansas State Wildcats opened at home tonight in Manhattan with a somewhat boring 34-14 victory over San Jose State. The Cats are full of surprises, and not always good ones. When you think they have the other team in check, they give up touchdowns, like in the 4th quarter tonight.

The same is true of K-State tailgating. We tailgated tonight in Cat Town with some of Doug’s lab members. First we ate brauts at the Veterinary Medicine tent, and then we found burgers at Animal Science. Angela asked me where the meat thermometers were, and I replied, “I’m sure they’re in that box with their cooking equipment.” We didn’t see one, so I proposed that maybe they had a standardized cooking procedure with pre-frozen patties and a clear cooking time charted out. Doug said that when they saw him arrive, the cooks called out, “Don’t worry. They’re done!” (We found out later that they use pre-cooked burgers; so indeed, they were done.)

We then went to a private tailgate party where the pregnant hostess, when introduced to Doug the Food Safety Professor, said, “We always try to keep things really safe here!” I didn’t look for thermometers there. By then my stomach was too full to even think about a cookie.

We’ve been thinking about tailgate publicity and reality research possibilities, like meat thermometers with Willie the Wildcat on them and final cooking temperature charts on stickers. Or tonight I thought it would be cool to have backpack coolers with cooking temps printed on them. We like slogans like, “Get‘r done,” and “Stick it in.” I also liked Andrew’s blogpost with the “Heat ‘em up, eat ‘em up” battle cry. But since we have a blog with, hopefully, a few readers, I thought I would put the question out to you. What would compel you to practice safe food handling at a tailgate? There are so many distractions, limited facilities, no running water in the parking lot, and plenty of people coming by and dipping into food unexpectedly. It’s delicious, and not just from the microorganisms’ point of view. Please share your comments, questions, and ideas on tailgating safely.

Heat em up, eat em up… KSU!

Posted on August 31, 2007 by admin

My favorite time of year is here, college football season. My team, the Kansas State University Wildcats kicks off their season Saturday night on the road against Auburn. Even though I won’t be traveling to the game I’ll still be doing the one thing I love to do before a home game, grilling out. To me, nothing is better than getting in some brats and burgers before walking up to the stadium to cheer on my cats. However, the tailgating scene can get pretty crazy sometimes and food safety may slip some people’s minds. Here are some good tips for the tailgating season.

Keep cold food in a cooler at less than 40°F (and keep there beers this cold too!)
Make sure the different meats are kept wrapped to prevent cross contamination. Making a burger topped with chicken is delicious, but stacking these meats is only acceptable after cooking
Cook food to the right temperature
- Steaks (beef, pork, fish, lamb) – 145°F
- Ground (beef, pork, lamb) – 160°F
- Chicken (whole, ground) – 165°F
Probably the smartest thing you can have is a meat thermometer. It’s the only true and tested way to tell if the food is done, and many are small enough to fit in your pocket. These should be a tailgater’s best friend.
Hot foods should not be left out for more than 2 hours. As much as you might want to have some food after the game, it is not acceptable to leave the burgers out for all 4 quarters. Put it away and reheat if needed.

(source: FDA)

The post title is a play on a popular chant at K-state games, thus I find it easy to remember to heat my foods to the proper temperatures. Starting next week you can find me at the Bill Snyder Family Stadium cooking, and losing my voice inside the stadium (from about where the picture above was taken).

Prediction: KSU 21 – Auburn 20

Restaurant Wars

Posted on August 23, 2007 by Amy Hubbell

In last night’s episode of Bravo’s Top Chef, the winning team used a meat thermometer. While this is a rarity within the celebrity chef circle, at least based on what we see in the final cut, it’s the second time I’ve seen one used on Top Chef this season (both times the chefs became winners, and both times they were cooking lamb). Last night Quatre’s sous-chef Howie wielded the same sort of digital tip-sensitive thermometer that we use at home. He had the unsliced chops, on their side, and inserted the thermometer into the middle of the meat. (Of course, this week the cheftestants also had head judge Chef Tom Colicchio watching them in the kitchen.) While Howie’s former nemesis, Joey, called his chops, “Typical Howie, undercooked!” the judges said they were cooked beautifully and perfectly. They had ordered their chops rare.

For those of you interested in trying this at home, there is no simple answer for finding the correct temperature of perfect-rare and safe lamb chops. Some recipe sites I consulted recommended a temperature of 125 F-130 degrees for medium rare. However, according to USDA for beef, veal and lamb (steaks, roasts and chops), medium rare is at 145 °F and medium is 160 °F.

Hormel proposes the following:

“Traditional guidelines state that lamb cooked very rare, rare, medium rare, or medium should have an internal temperature ranging between 115ºF to 145°F. With increased concern over bacteria that may be present in the internal portions of lamb, it is now recommended that whole lamb cuts be cooked to a final internal temperature (after resting) of not less than 145°F.”

While Howie may have hit the right temperature to please the judges, no one knows what his magic thermometer reading actually was. Still, I’m glad to see a thermometer once again on the show, used correctly (i.e inserted into the thickest portion of the meat), and this time for more than a second.

Just cook the burgers and no one will get sick …

Posted on August 15, 2007 by Douglas Powell

Andrew Wadge is the chief scientist for the U.K. Food Standards Agency; Andy has a blog.

On Aug. 2, 2007, a Judith Hilton posted on Andy’s blog that,

"UK Government advice about cooking burgers is more stringent than in the US and we were asked to consider whether our advice was still appropriate, bearing in mind claims the cooking times and temperatures recommended in the UK may lead to overcooking and deterioration in the quality of some products.

"Mindful of this, but also of the fact that undercooked burgers can harbour harmful food bugs such as E. coli O157, which can cause food poisoning and kidney failure, and that the advice had not been expertly reviewed since 1998, we asked the ACMSF to review what we were saying, which is that burgers should be cooked to 70°C for 2 minutes or equivalent. In other words, until burgers are piping hot throughout, there are no pink bits and the juices run clear."

On Aug. 2, 2007, I posted a comment, asking,

Why is the U.K. advice considered more stringent that the U.S.? Especially when the U.K. makes no mention of using meat thermometers and instead relies on the tremendously misleading, cook until the juices run clear?

On Aug. 7, 2007, Ms. Hilton responded that,

"The stringency relates to the time-temperature combinations whereby US guidance allows combinations that will provide a lower log reduction that 70 degrees for two minutes.
The reason we don’t mention temperature probes during cooking is that they’re not commonly used in the home over here. … Sorry you don’t find the reference to juices running clear helpful. It’s there as an additional safety check, alongside cooker manufacturer’ instructions. These instructions are designed to achieve a minimum temperature of 70 degrees C for two minutes or equivalent."

Without getting into the inadequacies on cooking instructions (and we don’t just blather about it, we’re doing research on it, rightt now — dp) I responded,

"Thanks for your comments. But they seem incomplete, especially when you are claiming that U.K. standards are more stringent than U.S. (and I’m Canadian so find the jingoism peculiar).

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture seems to have covered much of the basics in this oldie but goodie release. And while use of thermometers may be low in the U.K. and elsewhere, isn’t it the responsibility of government agencies to produce evidence-based material, and even promote best practices? Like using meat thermometers? It’s a research challenge we will be undertaking."

Food safety craze catching on in Manhattan, KS

Posted on July 31, 2007 by Brae Surgeoner

BarfBlog’s most recent posts have emphasized the need to use a food thermometer to verify the internal temperature of potentially hazardous food like hamburgers. Although the use of a food thermometer is the best method to ensure microbial food safety, numerous studies have shown the practice is seldom used; many cooks continue to trust color and cooking time as a reliable indicator of doneness.

Encouraging cooks to use a food thermometer is no easy task, and so it was with much surprise that I caught sight of a food thermometer integrated into the summer Grillin’ store display of the Palace in Aggieville. It may not be an instant-read digital meat thermometer (think PDT300), but it’s a thermometer and it helps to create awareness. More kitchen appliance stores need to get on board and promote the use of food thermometers.

Stick er’ in – Don’t eat poop!

Mammoth burger – so big it’s scary.

Posted on July 11, 2007 by Brae Surgeoner

The Calgary Herald reports today that a pair of Calgary chefs will join forces Friday to create what may be the biggest hamburger the city has ever seen — a 60-kilogram monster that will be sold off, piece by piece, to benefit the Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta.
Owner of the eatery, restaurateur Itzhak Likver was quoted as saying, "It’s going to be so big, I don’t know how to cut it even. I need to find a big, big knife."
Friday’s behemoth burger is estimated to be about 20 centimetres thick and measure roughly one metre in diameter, requiring nearly 45 kilograms of hamburger meat.
The remaining 20 kilograms will come from 40 slices of melted mozzarella cheese, 20 juicy tomatoes, five large onions, three heads of crisp romaine lettuce and four cups of mustard and ketchup, topped off by eight crunchy pickles.

I’d be interested to know how (and if) the chefs plan to measure the internal temperature of this mammoth burger — it’s enough of a challenge to ensure food safety on a regular size patty. No talk of food safety in the original news article, but of course that might kill the feel good vibe surrounding the charity event.

Top Chefs… Stick it in

Posted on June 28, 2007 by Amy Hubbell

Last night on Bravo’s Top Chef, Micah got eliminated for her bad-tasting but healthy meatloaf. Last week, Micah caught my attention as she used a meat thermometer in the barbeque elimination challenge. She came in the top three for her perfectly grilled lamb chops.

This is the same show that has had openly sick (or at least nauseated) chefs cooking anyway because they didn’t want to be kicked out of the competition (they wouldn’t get work in Michigan, where the state has proposed that someone with vomiting, diarrhea or a sore throat with fever could not return until 24 hours after the symptoms are gone).

And last night when the oven wasn’t working and Cheftestant Sara M’s chicken didn’t get done, she handpicked and served the pieces that looked cooked… no meat thermometer in sight, at least to the viewers.

Although Micah’s gone now, hats off to her. Often depressed and crying, missing her daughter, Micah still had the presence of mind to stick in the meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of her barbecued meat. Whether she did it for accuracy or safety, Micah’s choice to use a thermometer stood out. How often do you see one on a TV cooking show? Perhaps the climate on the reality cooking circuit will change.

In 2004, Doug’s laboratory reported that, based on 60 hours of detailed viewing of television cooking shows, an unsafe food handling practice occurred about every four minutes, and that for every safe food handling practice observed, they observed 13 unsafe practices. The most common errors were inadequate hand washing and cross-contamination between raw and ready-to-eat foods.

Hey, reality cooking show producers: serve up another helping of food safety.

Washing my meat thermometer – part II

Posted on May 2, 2007 by Amy Hubbell

Not quite satisfied with my inability to get a quick answer to my meat thermometer quandary, I did a Google search on “Food Safety Question.” “Ask Karen” popped up as the first hit. She’s the FSIS virtual representative for USDA. I typed in my question, “Do I need to wash my digital meat thermometer or is this bad for the mechanism?” This is what Karen said:

Thermometers are devices that measure temperatures. Using a food thermometer is the only reliable way to ensure the safety of meat, poultry and egg products. To be safe, these foods must be cooked to an internal temperature high enought [sic] to destroy any harmful microorganisms that may be in the food.

    * Are food thermometers best for large cuts of meat?
    * Can oven-safe bimetallic coil thermometers be used in the oven?
    * How accurate do thermometers need to be?
    * How many people use a food thermometer?
    * How to use a food thermometer?
    * Can I use a people thermometer for meat and poultry?
    * What are deep fry thermometers?
    * What is a bimetallic coil thermometer?
    * What is a liquid-filled thermometer?
    * What is a pop up timer?
    * What is a refrigerator thermometer?
    * What is a T-Stick?
    * What is a thermistor thermometer?
    * What is a thermocouple thermometer?
    * What is a thermometer fork?
    * What is an instant-read thermometer?
    * What is an oven cord thermometer?
    * What is an oven thermometer?
    * What is the proper way to clean a food thermometer?
    * What percentage of Americans own food thermometers?
    * What types of kitchen thermometers are available?
    * Where can I buy a food thermometer?
    * Why is it so important that people use a food thermometer when cooking meat, poultry, and eggs?

If I were anyone else, I would have given up with this huge list of questions. But being the inquisitive (stubborn) nerd that I am, I searched through and clicked on “What is the proper way to clean a food thermometer?” Karen says, “As with any cooking utensil, food thermometers should be washed with hot soapy water. Most thermometers should not be immersed in water. Wash carefully by hand.”

Karen’s advice sounds … sound. But it isn’t really practical if I’m cooking two things on the grill at once. Will the internal temperatures get hot enough to kill the microbes on the metal if I probe another piece of meat? I’m certainly no scientist, but I wonder what the real cross-contamination risks are. I also wondered if another source would give me a different answer.

Next I Googled, “Wash meat thermometer” (in quotes) and I got exactly one result– a document entitled “FY 2001 Annual Report of Accomplishments and Results: Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service.” This report, comprised of many project overviews, provided one on “Quick & Easy Cooking Schools.” In this project pilot cooking schools were offered in two Oklahoma counties, one of which had a 159% higher rate of foodborne illness than the rest of the state and this was 219% higher than the rest of the U.S. Using a 70 page Quick & Easy Cooking School curriculum, thirty cooking schools were taught in 2000. As a result, the worst county (Washita) dropped from 159% above the state rate to 100% below the state rate for foodborne illnesses. Here are some other “anecdotal” results:

“In addition, there was an increase in the number who used a meat thermometer after attending the cooking school. Moreover, the following are samples of additional food safety comments from participants regarding what they learned: ‘Wash meat thermometer in-between insertions. Do not just rinse the grilling tray that held raw meat but wash it before putting cooked meat back on it. Do not thaw meat on the counter.’”

My friends at iFSN also found the following references for me:

From the Beef Information Centre “Thermometer Know-How” states, “Always use hot soapy water to wash the tongs, plate and thermometer stem used in checking partially cooked meats before using again.”

From the food safety network’s own page, Cooking Temperatures 06.jul.05, “Wash the thermometer stem in hot soapy water every time you use it.”

The explanation that finally cured my curiosity was this one from O. Peter Snyder Jr. His study, “FOODBORNE ILLNESS HAZARD CONTROL STRATEGIES FOR CHURCHES AND NON-REGULATED GROUP FEEDING SITUATIONS” in 1992 for the Hospitality Institute of Technology and Management (May 1998 edition) explains that while cooking large pieces of meat, “Do not roast meats, etc. on a spit or stick the meat with a fork, because it will unnecessarily contaminate the center of the food. Always wash the stem of a thermometer before putting it into cooked, ready-to-eat food.”

Now on to investigating how many people use a fork when they grill.

Should I Wash My Meat Thermometer?

Posted on April 30, 2007 by Amy Hubbell

digital meat thermometer

Should I wash my meat thermometer?

I was cleaning up the kitchen after dinner the other night and came to the food thermometer left on the counter. Doug had made hamburgers and, as always, declared them done when his digital thermometer indicated that they were at least 160 F on the inside. My question to him was, “Do I need to wash the thermometer before I put it away?” Water is bad for the digital mechanism, but do I need to worry about potentially cross contaminating foods if I don’t wash it? What if I’m cooking hamburger and chicken on the grill … do I need to use two separate thermometers? I imagine that the E. coli won’t survive on the metal surface for long, but I’m not a microbiologist. Food safety isn’t really simple.

Find helpful information about this from the factsheet on grilling published by iFSN.

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