Tag Archives: thermometer

Science nonsense: No mention of thermometers for UK chicken

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How can a supposed science-based organization be taken seriously when it won’t incorporate science-based recommendations into its taxpayer-payer funded advice?

chicken.thermMaybe the Brits think they above such pedantic notions.

According to the UK Food Standards Authority, chicken is safe as long as consumers follow good kitchen practice including, ake sure chicken is steaming hot all the way through before serving. Cut in to the thickest part of the meat and check that it is steaming hot with no pink meat and that the juices run clear.

BS.

FSA has just published results from its year-long survey of campylobacter on fresh chickens. Campylobacter is a food bug mainly found on raw poultry and is the biggest cause of food poisoning in the UK.

Cumulative results for samples taken between February 2014 and February 2015[1] have now been published as official statistics, including results presented by major retailer. The report can been found via the link further down this page.

The results for the full year show:

  • 19% of chickens tested positive for campylobacter within the highest band of contamination*
  • 73% of chickens tested positive for the presence of campylobacter
  • 1% (five samples) of packaging tested positive at the highest band of contamination
  • 7% of packaging tested positive for the presence of campylobacter

*More than 1,000 colony forming units per gram (>1,000 cfu/g). These units indicate the degree of contamination on each sample.

More than 4,000 samples of fresh whole chilled chickens and packaging have been tested. The chickens were bought from large UK retail outlets and smaller independent stores and butchers. The data shows variations between the retailers, but none has met the target for reducing campylobacter (see table below). A full analysis of the survey results, including the publication of the raw data and the full year results for smaller supermarkets and shops, is being carried out by the FSA and will be published later in the summer.

Further details of the ongoing testing of chickens for campylobacter were also confirmed by the FSA. A new survey will start this summer and once again sample fresh whole chickens from all types of shops. Continued testing will help the FSA to measure the impact of the interventions now being introduced by the industry to tackle campylobacter.

The FSA has welcomed the publication today of case studies by Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, the Co-op and Waitrose  showing the results of their recently implemented campylobacter reduction plans. The data show significant decreases in the incidence of campylobacter on their raw whole chickens. The tests were carried out on more recent samples than those taken from the FSA survey samples, with some targeted to demonstrate the effect of particular interventions.

Hamburgers and Memorial Day

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As I devoured a 160F tip-sensitive thermometer verified hamburger this morning while watching Tampa beat New York in hockey playoffs, I was reminded that NY Times foodie Sam Sifton took 1,600 words last year to describe how to cook the ‘perfect burger’ and no mention of thermometers.

The Times wonders why it’s losing readers (and please, stop sending me the daily offers to resubscribe for almost nothing, it’s embarrassing).

Food porn always trumps food safety, until someone gets sick.

Bask in Memorial Day, my fellow U.S. citizens, remember those who gave and continue to give, and try not to make anyone barf.

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Shame on the Brits: Why bad food safety advice for safe chicken?

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Maybe there’s no tip-sensitive digital thermometers in the UK, maybe they’re not trying, maybe they just think they’re colonially better.

barfblog.Stick It InThe taxpayer-funded UK Food Standards Agency is going to have another go at Food Safety Week, focusing on Campylobacter in chicken.

Up to a third of the UK population could contract food poisoning from campylobacter during their lifetime, according to new figures released by FSA.

The figures are based on the current infection rates of more than a quarter of a million people per year. Campylobacter is most frequently found on raw poultry and is the biggest cause of food poisoning in the UK.  The FSA has released the figures to mark the start of 2015’s Food Safety Week and the launch of the ‘Chicken Challenge’ – its call to the whole food chain, from industry to consumers, to do their bit to halve the number of campylobacter food poisoning cases by the end of 2015.

Nina Purcell, director at the FSA, said in order to reduce Campylobacter illnesses, “check chicken is cooked properly until it’s steaming hot throughout with no pink meat and the juices run clear.”

Worse, the UK Institute of Food Research swallowed this line whole, and said, “check chicken is cooked properly until it’s steaming hot throughout with no pink meat and the juices run clear.”

This is chickenshit, and scientifically invalid.

The U.S., Canada, and now Australia, recommend the only way to ensure poultry and other foods are safely cooked, is to use a tip-sensitive digital thermometer. Color is a lousy indicator.

The Brit bureaurtards, and especially the supposedly science-based Institute of Food Research, should be ashamed.

Use a thermometer? NYC chef teaches students to make solar-powered meals

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Kale nachos sound gross; wellness sounds like quackery; using kids without a safety is dangerous.

barfblog.Stick It InA city chef is challenging the idea that New Yorkers don’t have the space to employ solar power by using the sun’s rays to quickly whip up meals for local kids.

Anyone planning a day in Central Park, a trip to the beach or with a rooftop or outdoor space can use a solar cooker — which involves a set of mirrored panels that direct the sun’s heat onto a ceramic dish — to make snacks or full meals, said chef Cynthia Tomasini.

On Thursday, Tomasini used that technique to teach students at P.S. 87 about the eco-friendly method, using a solar cooker to whip up a bunch of kale nachos.

Her work at the elementary school comes through the nonprofit Wellness in Schools (WITS), which is focused on improving healthy eating and increasing student movement and exercise.

Tomasini, 43, who is also a personal chef for local families, spends about a third of her time going to elementary schools in Manhattan as a WITS liaison.

You want to tell people what roast chicken looks like? Epicurious’ new Apple Watch app sucks at science

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Color is a lousy indicator of food being cooked to a microbiologically safe temperature.

But Epicurious goes all food porn with an Apple Watch app that, sucks.

Use a tip sensitive digital thermometer and stick it in.

Below? Fail.

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What’s worrying is no one said thermometer: cooking all the way through doesn’t cut it

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Australians under 34 don’t know enough about how to safely handle food to avoid food poisoning, according to a report card by the Food Safety Information Council.

barfblog.Stick It InThe 18 to 34 year olds didn’t do as well compared to over 50s on knowledge of food safety, a survey found.

Only 73% of the younger group know to cook hamburgers all the way through compared with 84% for over 50s.

The younger crowd know (87%) to cook sausages all the way, although 93% of the over 50s are masters at the BBQ.

Only half (59%) of the younger group know to refrigerate chicken dishes straight away compared with 72% of over 50s.

Oh dear: USDA is now using steaming hot as a scientific standard

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Robber’s Roost Jerky, an Ellensburg, Wash., establishment, is recalling approximately 4 pounds of ready-to-eat smoked beef and pork pepper stick jerky product that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

beefjerky406The problem was discovered by the company after a sample from the cutting board used in preparation of the product returned a positive test result for Listeria monocytogenes. FSIS and the company have received no reports of illness due to consumption of this product.

 FSIS advises all consumers to reheat ready-to-eat product until steaming hot.

I use a tip-sensitive digital thermometer on shrimp; the variation is fascinating.

Fish edition: Gratuitous food porn shot of the day

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Our friend is spending her weekends doing a business degree, and her hubby took the girls after hockey, so Amy and I got to relive the many reasons we initially got together 10 years ago and cooked dinner for our friends.

Sorenne ate the trout (she thought it was salmon because of the color, I didn’t argue) and her friend devoured the barramundi. Temperature-verified 145F.

fish.mar.15

Boy Scouts avoid liability in E. coli lawsuit

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I was shocked and shamed about a month ago when we were invited to dinner at the home of other hockey parents.

thermometers.feb.15I normally carry a spare Cormark PTD 300 tip-sensitive digital thermometer in my knapsack, but had donated the spare to Sorenne’s school the day before and forgot to replenish the stash (thanks, Chapman, for providing more).

I felt naked not being able to probe the pork roast, especially when our hosts asked for a demonstration.

Dr. food safety was Dr. fail.

Apparently the Boy Scouts of America don’t care about such things either.

Harrison King, then 14, was among more than 80 campers who became ill after a 2008 gathering at a sprawling Boy Scout camp in Rockbridge County. King suffered brain damage as a result of his illness, according to his lawsuit.

A Virginia Department of Health report concluded the outbreak was caused in part by undercooked ground beef.

amy.thermometer.05King sued both the Boy Scouts and the company that sold ground beef used at Camp Goshen. He claimed the meat supply was tainted and the Boy Scouts failed to ensure the meat was properly cooked.

U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon first ruled in November that the Boy Scouts were entitled to charitable immunity in King v. S&S Foods LLC, Boy Scouts of America (VLW 014-3-618).

At the time, Moon left the case open for the parties to explore whether there was evidence of gross negligence that would allow King’s claim to proceed against the Boy Scouts.

Based on evidence that the Boy Scout regional unit had provided guidance on the proper cooking of so-called “foil dinners” and on safe food handling generally, Moon rejected the allegations of gross negligence. He dismissed the Boy Scouts and the BSA regional unit on March 20 in King v. S&S Foods LLC (VLW 015-3-142).

Take a thermometer.

 

Use a thermometer, not steaming hot: Bad government advice paid by taxpayers in UK and Aus

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The taxpayer funded bullshit is below, even though the US and Canada say, use a damn thermometer, because color is a lousy indicator. The science is clear on this issue.

bites.stick.it.inThe UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) is reminding people to take care when preparing and cooking burgers at home.

Steve Wearne, Director of Food Policy, at the FSA, said: ‘The most important thing to remember is to cook your burgers so they are steaming hot all the way through, that none of it is pink and that any juices run clear.”

And in Australia, Safe Food Queensland endorsed a fact sheet from Queensland Health that stated, “Make sure to cook chicken thoroughly so that there is no pink meat and the juices run clear.”

Fail.

Stick it in and use a tip sensitive digital thermometer.