Tag Archives: Turkey

Sarah Palin and turkeys

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Amy the French professor is originally from Minnesota. She thought the 1996 movie, Fargo, was a linguistics masterpiece, what with its ‘Yah, you betchas’ and ‘you don’t says’ and demonstration of the ‘Minnesota nice’ conversational style.

Fargo seems like a distant memory, now that Sarah Palin has appropriated all the best lines.

Former VP candidate and current Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was in Wasilla today to do the traditional pardoning a local turkey ahead of Thanksgiving. Minutes later, a farm worker began slaughtering another turkey just a few feet behind her … plainly visible in the background of the video (below).

Governor Palin was told by the photographer what was going on behind her and allowed the interview to continue.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) could sign Governor Palin up as an undercover slaughterhouse worker. As the N.Y. Times reported Wednesday, PETA is asking for prosecution of workers at the Aviagen Turkeys plant in Lewisburg, W.Va., in a complaint filed with the local sheriff’s office under state laws regarding cruelty to animals. …

The Aviagen video can be seen at www.peta.org. The scenes show stomach-turning brutality. Workers are seen smashing birds into loading cages like basketballs, stomping heads and breaking necks, apparently for fun, even pretending to rape one. …

Bernard E. Rollin, a professor of animal sciences at Colorado State University, said the workers’ actions were “totally unacceptable” and suggested that they be removed from working with animals and prosecuted.

Chicken soup may lower blood pressure, study finds

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Lunch was delicious, thanks.

The key to a good soup or stew is a good homemade stock. Canadian Thanksgiving dinner last Monday night was a hit and the students ate everything so there were no leftovers.

I made a turkey stock with the remnants, and then cooked another turkey breast later in the week so Amy and I could enjoy turkey leftovers. What you see (right) is the second batch of stock draining into the stock pot, and a container of the first batch of stock that has cooled in the fridge so the fat has solidified on top. Remove the fat, sauté some garlic, onion, veggies (I use a mixture of frozen and fresh, whatever is around), add some turkey meat, fresh oregano and hot sauce and the stock and it’s turkey soup or stew for lunch.

According to a report to be published in the Oct. 22 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Japanese researchers have found that collagen proteins found in chicken may actually lower blood pressure.

Dr. Byron Lee, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, said,

"As this study suggests, some collagen in chicken may lower blood pressure. But be careful. The salt we put on our chicken and in our chicken soup may offset or even reverse this potential benefit."

I don’t add salt.
 

Canadian Thanksgiving dinner tonight – hopefully I won’t make anyone barf

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Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday – a celebration of the harvest with food, friends and family.

Canadian Thanksgiving is today, so in an effort to enhance Canadian Studies, or at least the ability of Kansans to be able to geographically identify Canada as that place up north, Amy and I host an annual dinner, for ex-pats and, this year, our students.

They never turn down food. We remember what it’s like to be students.

But the supermarket I frequent didn’t have whole turkeys – American Thanksgiving isn’t until the end of November. There was, however, a fresh, huge turkey breast, reduced for quick sale (which meant I couldn’t thaw my turkey on the kitchen counter). So I bought two, experimented, and will be using the trusty meat thermometer.

We’re going to go eat, when the other 10 people arrive.

A video will be up in a few days.
 

Are you food safety savvy?

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That’s what dietician and TV personality Leslie Beck asked yesterday in the Toronto Globe and Mail as she posed a pre-Canadian-Thanksgiving food safety quiz.

Leslie (right) didn’t do so good — and she’s the alleged teacher with the answer book.

That’s because she went to the Coles Notes version — the Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education – for her answers instead of doing some digging.

“While food processing has been blamed for many of these (foodborne) outbreaks, the fact remains that the majority of food-safety problems occur at home. It is estimated that Canada has as many as 13 million cases of food poisoning every year, most of which could be prevented by safer handling of food at home.”

With at least 20 people dead from listeria in cold cuts in Canada, such a statement is not only factually inaccurate, it is condescendingly harsh.

“Fresh produce must always be washed – true or false?
Answer: True
Fresh fruit and vegetables should never be consumed without being washed under clean, running water – even prebagged, prewashed produce.”

Chirstine Bruhn, UC Davis, do you have something to add on this? Last I saw, scientists were saying don’t rewash the pre-washed greens for fear of contaminating clean product. Food safety is not simple and there are lots of disagreements – which is why these laundry lists of do’s and don’t’s, are fairly useless. People are interested in this stuff, give them some data, some information, some context, not just questionable marching orders.

“What temperature does your stuffed Thanksgiving turkey need to reach before it is safe to eat?
Answer: d) 82 C (180 F)
Use a digital meat thermometer and cook your turkey until the temperature at the thickest part of the breast or thigh is at least 82 C (180 F)."

No idea where this comes from, because Health Canada won’t let mere mortals peek at the wizard behind the green curtain who makes such pronouncements (watch the video below for how Health Canada derives at consumer recommendations for things like cooking temperatures). The recommended internal temperature in the U.S. is 165F. You can read how that number was determined at http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2007/10/articles/food-safety-communication/thawing-and-cooking-turkey/.

Both are better than the U.K.’s, “piping hot.”

“What is the safest way to thaw your Thanksgiving turkey?
Answer: d) In the fridge
 Never defrost a turkey at room temperature.”

Yes you can, and I will be this weekend. Check out Pete Snyder’s comments and our own work in this area.

We’ll be videotaping the turkey preparation for our annual Canadian-expat-in-Manhattan (Kansas) Thanksgiving feast on Monday.
 

British holidaymakers in Turkey struck with salmonella

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The British Mirror reports that hundreds of tourist may have been struck down with salmonella food poisoning and some have already been diagnosed after returning from a hotel complex in Turkey.

The tourists affected were staying at the Holiday Village Turkey in the resort of Sarigerme.

Andrew Morton, of the Manchester law firm Pannone, who is taking action against First Choice Travel on behalf of more than 100 clients, said,

"From all reports coming out of the resort, we expect the number of cases to rise significantly over the next few days. Estimates put the figure of those affected at well over 1,000. Anyone returning to the UK from Sarigerme who has been ill should see their doctor immediately."

Last night, a spokeswoman for First Choice said "a very small proportion" of guests at the resort reported being ill and were being treated for an "airborne virus.”
 

Seasons greetings from iFSN: Avoid the runs around the holidays

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Here’s today’s festive infosheets, consider it a holiday gift to all of our faithful barfblog readers. Our focus today was on a few things that you might encounter during the holidays, especially at family or work parties. And the picture of Santa is pretty awesome.

You can download the infosheet here.

Health Canada pulls holiday recommendations from its ass

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Health Canada says that 11 to 13 million of Canada’s 33 million people will get sick from food each year.

But,

"You can help reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses for your family and friends during the holiday season by following some basic food safety tips."

If it’s basic, why are so many people getting sick?

The Canadians at least have it right by saying,

"If cooking a turkey for a holiday meal, use a digital food thermometer to make sure it is cooked properly."

That’s so much better than the Brits and the Irish.

But then, Health Canada says,

"The temperature of the thickest part of the breast or thigh should be at least 85 degrees C (185 degrees F)."

No one knows where this recommendation comes from. In the U.S., the recommendation is 165 F, and anyone can figure out where it came from. Apparently no one asks such questions in Canada.

How to check if a turkey is cooked: “piping hot” is not sufficient

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The Brits apparently don’t like data when it comes to cooking hamburgers, and now, turkey.

Same with the Irish.

 For the home cook, the data is the tip-sensitive digital thermometer, and a recording of 160F for hamburgers, 165F for poultry.

For the U.K.’s Food Standards Agency, it’s, "check it’s piping hot all the way through."

I have no idea what that means.

When I hear piping hot, I think of Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins.

Seriously, the best the taxpayer-funded FSA can come up with is:

So make sure your turkey is cooked properly:
    * check it’s piping hot all the way through
    * cut into the thickest part to check that none of the meat is pink
    * if juices run out, they should be clear.

Wow.

One of the great things about the barfblog software provided by food safety dude Bill Marler is that we can see what people are searching for. Since Thanksgiving, people are repeatedly searching for, "Where to place a thermometer in a turkey."

So, not only are they using a thermometer, they want to know how to do it properly.

Don’t ask the U.K.’s  Food Standards Agency.

Or Ireland’s safefood, which yesterday said it’s safe to cook stuffing inside the turkey and,

"remember, always make sure your cooked turkey is piping hot all the way through, with no pink meat, and all the juices run clear."

But here are some tips. And some pics from our Thanksgiving turkey.

Food safety guru Pete Snyder says,

If you have stuffed the turkey, you must cook the stuffed bird until the stuffing is above 150F. This assures a 10,000,000-to-1 kill of Salmonella. At this point, the breast will probably be 165F, which is very safe, and the thigh will be about 185F, which is necessary to make this muscle tissue soft.

Sara Moulton on ABC’s Good Morning America says:

The thermometer goes into the thickest part of the thigh and should not touch the bone.

The U.S. National Turkey Federation says to insert the thermometer 2 1/2 inches in the deepest portion of the turkey breast or into the inner thigh near the breast. Make sure the thermometer does not touch a bone. When inserting the thermometer in the turkey breast, insert it from the side. The thermometer is easier to read and more accurate than when inserted from the top.

And the U.S. Department of Agriculture says for whole turkeys, place the thermometer in the thickest part of the inner thigh. Once the thigh has reached 165 °F, check the wing and the thickest part of the breast to ensure the turkey has reached a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F throughout the product.

The Brits are right to say that people shouldn’t wash their turkeys before cooking them — a cross contamination nightmare — but why they refuse to advocate tip-sensitive digital thermometers is baffling. And risky.

And these are happy people not barfing because I used a tip-sensitive digital meat thermometer, and didn’t rely on "piping hot."

U.S. Thanksgiving treats; turkey and hairballs

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Couple of fun ones tonight, first one is a pretty sweet video about quick cooking a turkey (they do mention a thermometer, but I don’t see it being used).


A Thermite Thanksgiving

Second one is a nice food safety story about what happens when you eat your hair.  Here’s a preview picture (this was removed from an 18-year-old girl).

from a New England Journal of Medicine article covered on CNN:

She complained of a five-month history of pain and swelling in her abdomen, vomiting after eating and a 40-pound weight loss.
After a scan of the woman’s abdomen showed a large mass, doctors lowered a scope through her esophagus.
"On questioning, the patient stated that she had had a habit of eating her hair for many years — a condition called trichophagia," the authors of the article wrote.

My favourite part of the article is:

A year later, the pain and vomiting were gone, the patient had regained 20 pounds "and reports that she has stopped eating her hair."