By Teresa Carr
Administrative Assistant
Information from AAA7 – Hygiene and Food Safety – Foodborne illness (food poisoning) is fairly common—every year about 48 million people (one in six) in the U.S. become ill from eating contaminated foods. Of those, about 3,000 dies. Older adults are at special risk because they can’t efficiently fight off the bacteria, virus, and parasites that make people sick.
People often think their illness was caused by their last meal, but the time between eating bad food and the onset of illness can vary widely. Usually, you’ll feel sick 1–3 days after eating. But you could become sick anytime from 20 minutes to three weeks after eating.
Know the symptoms of foodborne illness: upset stomach, abdominal pain, vomiting, or diarrhea are common. Or, the person in your care may have flu-like symptoms with a fever, headache and body aches. It’s easy to confuse foodborne illness with other types of illness.
At Restaurants – If you eat out, wipe your table, silverware, plate edges, and drinking glass with a disinfectant wipe and don’t share food. Always order food well done. Doggie bags should be refrigerated within two hours; within one hour if air temperature is 90° F or above.
At Home:
• Wash hands with soap before preparing, serving or eating food.
• Disinfect sink and kitchen counters with a solution of four teaspoons chlorine bleach per quart of water.
• Air drying dishes is more sanitary than using a dish towel.
• Check expiration dates carefully and discard food that’s expired.
· Cook all meat, poultry, and fish thoroughly, to an oven temperature of at least 325° F. Cook hamburgers or chopped meat to an internal temperature of 160° F. (There is much less chance of being infected by a solid piece of meat because bacteria collect only on the outside.)
· Check temperature after reheating foods in the microwave oven, allow standing time. Then, use a clean food thermometer to check that food has reached 165° F.
• Keep hot foods at 140° F or more and cold foods at 50° F or colder.
• Keep refrigerator below 41° F.
• Cook eggs until the yolks are no longer runny; never serve raw eggs.
• Don’t serve raw oysters, clams, or shellfish.
• Avoid unpasteurized milk and cider.
• Don’t keep refrigerated leftovers more than 3–4 days.
· Even if the food looks and smells fine, it may not be safe.
• Thaw foods properly.
• Separate raw and ready-to-eat foods.
Source: National Institutes of Health; Centers for Disease Control
The Summer Crisis Program begins July 1 and they will be conducting phone interviews only. Please call ABCAP’s office in Winchester, Ohio toll-free at 1-567-268-1009 to use the automated system to schedule a phone appointment.
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