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Not long ago I tried a new restaurant in town with friends. It was fantastic. The food was fresh and well prepared, the décor was authentic, the restaurant was clean, and the service was outstanding. After lunch my friends returned to work and I came home. I’m retired now and usually when I eat out I always try to come home after rather than run errands or go to a movie or whatever. The reason is, I have been the victim of food poisoning so many times I only eat out now with fear and trepidation. And I’m not alone. I know several people who only visit certain restaurants. Yet, there’s still a chance that the food the restaurant purchases is contaminated even if they are a well run establishment with safety their highest priority. I once was a participant in a potluck at work. Over half of us came down with food poisoning and many ended up in the emergency room. A friend of mind attends potlucks when necessary but pretends to eat.
Food poisoning, in all its nasty forms, has been around for thousands of years. It is understandable that food would spoil quickly before the days of refrigeration and before people were aware their food needed special care to avoid death, but it seems odd we have so much of it today, in this country in particular. However, indeed we do and it’s increasing.
The problem is the result of mass processing of foods by thousands of companies, which is then handled by hundreds of thousands of employees. Food is mass-produced in enormous quantities and the variety of foods we can purchase is staggering. Just the past few days even Tylenol recalled thousands of their products, which were contaminated with mold. They determined the mold came from shipping pallets made of wood which contained the mold spores that made their way into the packaged and sealed products prior to shipment. Tylenol is not food but we do consume it and trust that medication of all things will be safe. We also import food from other countries. They are required to meet food safety standards before shipping. I have zero faith in that process.
Buying food not processed in any way by another country is very difficult. Though the label may say “packaged in Modesto,” the package itself could be from—dare I say it--China. Much of the beautiful fruit and vegetables we see in our super stores are from Mexico, Central and South America, and other parts of the world. There is some concern that terrorists may be able to hurt us by simply contaminating the foods that are imported for our consumption.
Over the past 20 or so years I have fallen victim to a variety of food poisonings from restaurants and potlucks. I do not recall a time I have ever been sick from food I’ve prepared at home. Sometimes we think we have the flu when in fact we are suffering from some form of food poisoning. If it's food poisoning caused by bacteria or their toxins, then nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting can begin as soon as an hour after consumption. Stomach flu has similar symptoms. Viruses that afflict the stomach and intestines--viral gastroenteritis, cause the stomach flu. These viruses are spread by the fecal-oral route and can persist on objects like doorknobs or on food surfaces for days. We feel miserable with both and both are hard to avoid. But several TV “doctors” have increasingly blamed illnesses that come on quickly or hours after eating a meal on food and not the flu. When people visit doctors after such an illness takes them by surprise, most often the doctors suspect food poisoning. I believe flu patterns are different from food poisoning patterns. In a potluck incident, it’s obvious after just a few questions.
I can tell if I’m sick from food poisoning because for me the problem usually develops very soon after eating the suspect food. Eggs seem to bother me when eaten in a restaurant but never at home. I believe it’s the frequency of grill cleaning or lack thereof. It may also be the egg and whatever storage it sat in before sale to a distributor. I always ordered my eggs scrambled well and still had the problem. I stopped ordering eggs about a year ago. I almost never order meat in restaurants for the same reason. Things that live in water are often a problem. Fortunately, I do not like things that live in the water except to admire them. Quality control of things that live in the water is of the highest importance in a restaurant. Pick those restaurants with caution. Employee hygiene is often blamed for food poisoning but management stretching their food dollars and keeping food after it’s lost its prime (and not staffing an adequate cleaning schedule) plays heavily into food industry problems. Take a peek at local county websites that list restaurant safety and cleanliness ratings.
Over the years I have spent a good amount of time studying food preparation and storage because of that problem. I had a relative who worked for Federal Food & Drug. I was surprised he could eat at all after some of the horrific stories he told us about when inspecting restaurants and stores. Even the famous cooking shows now include explanations on the proper way to prepare food in the kitchen, especially how to handle chicken, and how to clean surfaces and hands to prevent problems.
When I prepare and store food I am OCD careful. I could probably write an entire blog on just my food prep routine. Before I prepare a meal I first make sure my hands and food surfaces are cleaned. The food is then carefully unwrapped over the sink so that any crumbs or drips are not spread over a cutting board or counter top. I do not use the same cutting surface for preparing all my food items. Each food item I prepare gets a new cutting board or a thoroughly cleaned cutting board. Once the food is prepared and consumed, leftovers are placed in the frig and are tossed if not consumed in a day or two, depending on the leftover. Some can be frozen. After the meal the kitchen is swabbed with cleanser. I also seem to live on an anthill so it’s another reason to keep the area very clean.
Because I have a pristine food prep style I believe it may be a contributing factor to why I get so sick when I eat out. I don’t purchase many processed foods which cuts down on contamination possibilities. I also don’t eat out a lot so that when I do my stomach, which is used to a super clean food environment, may be too “delicate” to eat in a less than perfect environment.
A year or so ago I took a 6-week class on nutrition and preparation and storage was discussed in almost every class. Almost every person in the class had a food horror story to share. We were all surprised but then we discussed all the ways we get our food and the places our foods come from and how foods are stored and handled and we were amazed we weren’t all dead. We also discussed that most deaths in developing nations are almost entirely caused by lack of clean water and food.
I can’t even imagine what is happening in Haiti now. Many people who survived the earthquake and the following days will later die because of food and water contamination. This applies to the rescue workers and medical personnel. At some point in a given day or week they too may ingest something they believe is safe but it may not be. They are arriving with packaged foods but it seems unrealistic that they will be able to have enough available to them when in desperate situations. Eventually they may have to eat or drink something not carefully sealed in a nice clean container. The earthquake will keep on giving for a long time.
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