I was reading an article about "PINK SLIME" that caught my eye on shine yahoo.com and then did some research and obtained more information from the huffington post as well as medical news today.com which lead me to today's health tip, "how to prevent salmonella and e. coli poisoning". Both of these are bacteria that causes food poisoning which leads to severe stomach pains, abdominal cramps, vomiting and bloody diarrhea. They are both foodborne illnesses, usually coming from undercooked ground beef or ground beef that contains fecal matter in it.
So, how do we prevent these nasty bacteria from setting up in our bodies? I have 3 practical tips.
1 Control bacterial growth. Food contains good and bad bacteria. What's important is controlling the growth of bacteria and keeping them at a temperature level that is safe for consumption. Meat should be in the freezer, thawed out in the refridgerator, and completely cooked. Food should be stored at the proper temperatures until they are ready to be prepared or served. For example, hot foods such as soup must remain at a temperature of at least 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Cold foods must stay below 40 degrees. Using a meat thermometer is very helpful.
2 Wash, wash, wash and scrub your hands, utensils and surfaces before handling food, during and after food preparation and especially when handling raw meat, fish or eggs. It is safer to use paper towels rather than sponges when washing surfaces. Also, we must be mindful of cross-contamination. Once a utensil has been used on raw meat, fish or eggs, do not re-use it on foods that won't be cooked. Use the same precautions with surfaces such as cutting boards and countertops. It is best to use a separate cutting board for fresh produce.
3 When food is going to be out of the kitchen or in the sun all day, for lunch, picnics, or car trips, we should opt for eggless dishes. Something like potato salad sitting in the sun or in the summer heat, will quickly reach an unsafe temperature level.
Those are the three precautionary measures to take for preventing salmonella and e coli poisoning. *In my humble opinion, I think we should eliminate beef all together from our diets. Besides the fact that beef is where salmonella and e coli bacteria is poisoning us from, cows are no longer feeding on the grass they've grazed on for hundreds of years and as a result, we have things like madd cow's disease, a result of cattle being forced into carniverous eating and canibalism, which is meat from animals including other cows being ground up and put in their feed as well as fruits, vegetables and grains that are not naturally part of a cow's diet, like corn, which ends up in our system as sugar when we think we're eating protein.
For more information check out www.ehow.com.
So, how do we prevent these nasty bacteria from setting up in our bodies? I have 3 practical tips.
1 Control bacterial growth. Food contains good and bad bacteria. What's important is controlling the growth of bacteria and keeping them at a temperature level that is safe for consumption. Meat should be in the freezer, thawed out in the refridgerator, and completely cooked. Food should be stored at the proper temperatures until they are ready to be prepared or served. For example, hot foods such as soup must remain at a temperature of at least 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Cold foods must stay below 40 degrees. Using a meat thermometer is very helpful.
2 Wash, wash, wash and scrub your hands, utensils and surfaces before handling food, during and after food preparation and especially when handling raw meat, fish or eggs. It is safer to use paper towels rather than sponges when washing surfaces. Also, we must be mindful of cross-contamination. Once a utensil has been used on raw meat, fish or eggs, do not re-use it on foods that won't be cooked. Use the same precautions with surfaces such as cutting boards and countertops. It is best to use a separate cutting board for fresh produce.
3 When food is going to be out of the kitchen or in the sun all day, for lunch, picnics, or car trips, we should opt for eggless dishes. Something like potato salad sitting in the sun or in the summer heat, will quickly reach an unsafe temperature level.
Those are the three precautionary measures to take for preventing salmonella and e coli poisoning. *In my humble opinion, I think we should eliminate beef all together from our diets. Besides the fact that beef is where salmonella and e coli bacteria is poisoning us from, cows are no longer feeding on the grass they've grazed on for hundreds of years and as a result, we have things like madd cow's disease, a result of cattle being forced into carniverous eating and canibalism, which is meat from animals including other cows being ground up and put in their feed as well as fruits, vegetables and grains that are not naturally part of a cow's diet, like corn, which ends up in our system as sugar when we think we're eating protein.
For more information check out www.ehow.com.