Clark Howard Speaks Out on Food Regulation

I used to live in the Atlanta area and have listened to the Clark Howard radio show for many years. He gives great consumer advice and I generally agree with him about the role of government. Today, he posted show notes about the recent problems with horse meat ending up in food where it is not supposed to be.

Clark observes:

"But the thing is, we need government oversight too. Government has a role to play in health and safety. The reality is normal capitalist rules don't work when it comes to health, safety, or the environment because that would bean lower profits."

In my personal opinion, one of the legitimate roles of government is to keep us safe from these ne'er do wells who will not honestly label their products. I believe that if you want horse meat, that it is a source of meat that should be allowed. I also believe that you should know what you are getting and be able to make the choice for yourself and your family.

Unfortunately, until the potential punishments are strong enough to make people decide the reward is not worth the risk, then people will continue to do things like this in lots of different ways in different industries. Also, as long as the consumer only looks at price, producers will feel the pressure to produce cheaper and inferior products.

Right now in Washington, D.C., our congresscritters are avoiding making a budget and bringing on the threat of the dreaded sequester. You can also find many examples of overzealous regulators or agencies going too far. But there will always be a need for protection for the consumer. Unfortunately, in our human world, some people have to be made to do the right thing.

And that's one of the reasons why, as Clark says, "...it's reasonable to expect government to play the role of referee."

Preach on, preacher.

Food Expiration Dates Podcast

I enjoy listening to podcasts. Some of my favorites come from the web site How Stuff Works. One of their series that I listen to is Stuff Mom Never Told You. Recently the lovely and talented hosts, Cristen and Caroline, did a podcast on food expiration dates. Most of the information in the podcast is great, but there are a few comments that I have about this particular episode.

First of all, as this podcast is normally concerned with women's issues, I would like to point out that pregnant women should be extra concerned with food expiration dates. This is due to the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes. This is an especially dangerous bacteria that can cause stillbirths and infant deaths, depending on the stage of the pregnancy. There is a lot of advice out there geared towards Listeria prevention in pregnant women. Of particular risk are Latinas who eat queso fresco. This is a cheese that is often made at home with unpasteurized milk. Pregnant women should avoid soft cheeses and anything made from unpasteurized milk. Additionally, they need to make sure that processed meat products like hot dogs and lunch meats are within the expiration dates and the FDA recommends cooking them to 165°F before eating.

Another thing that helps with Listeria prevention is keeping the refrigerator at 40°F, as was discussed in the podcast. It's good advice for everyone, but especially homes with pregnant women living there.

A concern I have about the information in the podcast was when it was mentioned that we should expect raw meat to be free from things like E. coli. I wish this were the case. Unfortunately, we need to treat all raw meat and poultry products as if they were contaminated. They fact that they are USDA inspected does not mean that they are free from bacteria, it just means that they were produced under sanitary conditions (at least that is what it is supposed to mean). According to a recent test from Consumer Reports, only 34% of raw chicken they tested was germ free. This is why everyone cooks their chicken well done.

The last thing I want to mention is about what the different dates mean. Milk and eggs are typically good after the date on the package. Check the regulations in your state for details on how long it is supposed to be good for. Generally, a state department of agriculture will regulate this and have this information available. For other dates, proceed with caution, especially if you are pregnant. A date that says "best by" is usually related to quality. Dates on pharmaceuticals are often related to the effectiveness of the drug.

In the Zombie Apocalypse, I will eat what I have to and probably not notice the dates. But, while conditions are relatively normal, let's be careful. If any zombies are reading this, my brain is well past its expiration date.

Gross Food Habits

I saw an article today on Fox News about gross food habits that people have. It's a nice read, but I thought I would add my on take on a few of the items.

The habits they identify are:
Licking the spoon while cooking
Double dipping
Serving food dropped on the floor
Using food past the expiration date
Not tossing items with bugs

Licking the spoon: if you live alone, I don't see the problem. If you are serving to guests, not a good idea. If you are working in a restaurant kitchen, it's even worse (at least as far as the number of people you can infect). For chefs who need to taste the broth, use a clean spoon, dip a sample, and step to the side to taste. No double dipping of the tasting spoon.

Double dipping: it may be acceptable for you and your significant other, but I don't recommend it for a first date. My own mother has a friend who double dips, so when they go to a Mexican restaurant she always gets two bowls of salsa. Ready to eat foods can pass along a number of germs, including not only foodborne illness germs but also those that cause colds and the flu.

Serving food dropped on the floor: isn't that what dogs are for, to clean up the food we drop on the floor? I don't recommend following the 5 second rule.

Using food past the expiration date: it depends. There are basically 3 types of dates you will see on packaging. These dates tell you something about whether or not you can use the product past the date. The types are:
Use by - this is a drop dead date. Don't use it past this date
Sell by - the store can't legally sell it after this date, but it is often still good to use after. When in doubt, a Google search can turn up lots of helpful information about using products.
Best by - This is usually a quality date. You can still use it, but it may not taste very good and the nutrition value may not be the same. This is the stuff you might save in case of the zombie apocalypse.

Not tossing items with bugs: the article blames this on the organic craze. It does follow logically that not using pesticides will likely increase the number of pests on your food. You just have to know which ones to toss and which ones to keep. Cockroaches and flies are bad.

Can we please be a little less gross out there, especially if you are preparing my meal in a restaurant.

Social Media Follow-Up

Last week I gave a speech at my Toastmasters club about social media. I have promised to upload my slides and some additional commentary, so here they are.

First, here is the link to a PDF of my presentation that I used. Because of Blogger's security policies, I can't upload the file directly here, but I can post a link where you can view or download the file from my Google+ account. The link is: Robert's Guide to Social Media

I appreciate all of the nice feedback I received from everyone in my Toastmasters club and the requests for more information. I will try to answer some of the questions I received in my comments below. I will do a brief review of some of the slides and then comment on the web sites I mentioned.

I also want to post the ways that you can follow me on social media. You can find me on Facebook, but I am going to leave that as a bit of a finding exercise if you are itnerested. You can also find my Toastmasters club on Facebook by searching for Voices of Leadership Toastmasters. Additionally, I am on Google+ and you can follow my personal account on Twitter, @DawgRobert

My professional presence online is as "The Food Safety Trainer". You can contact me via e-mail through the contact form on this blog. The Food Safety Trainer is also on Google+ and is on Twitter @foodsafetytrnr

I am also working on a blog and Twitter presence under the name "Observant Observations". My blog is at observantobservations.blogspot.com and I am on Twitter @obsrvntobsrvtns. I plan to get active there for the upcoming election season.

Let's take another look at my presentation. I gave 3 rules for social media participation. They are:
1 - You are in control. You decide whether or not you want an online presence. You decide how much you want to post and how hard or easy it is to find you. You can be a lurker by just having social media accounts and watching what goes on, or you can be an active participant.
2 - Be careful with privacy. All of the social media platforms have various privacy controls. Learn them and use them. Don't share something you don't want to be found out, because at some point it will be, and that may be when you least want it to.
3 - Use good judgement. If you don't want your parents or employer to find out about it, don't post it. I like this humorous flow chart that tells you how to decide which network to use to post your status. Notice that it says there are some things you should not post.

The next step is to get started. I recommend getting a Gmail account, but almost any e-mail account will work. Hotmail from Microsoft and Yahoo mail are also good options. I strongly recommend that you have a personal e-mail account that is separate from your work e-mail account. Use your work account for work and your personal account for whatever. You can even create multiple accounts, which is what I have done so that I can separate my personal account, Food Safety Trainer, and Observant Observations accounts (all are Gmail). I use an old Juno account as my spam account.

Once you get your e-mail account set up, decide which sites you want to be on, how you want to participate, and then go for it. If you really want to be active, make sure to connect with the apps for your smart phone. The major sites have them for both iPhone and Android platforms.

Here are some of the sites I covered in my presentation with some comments about them.
Facebook - you might want to be there because everyone is there (at least in the United States). People are moving to other social media sites, but right now Facebook is the big one. One reason that you might not want to be on Facebook, or that should at least make you scour your account, is that the new Timeline feature becomes mandatory in the next week. Here is a great article from Mashable to help you prepare for Timeline.
Google and Google+ - I mention Google here and not just Google+ plus because Google has an ecosystem of social media apps to make your online presence more convenient (and allow them to sell more advertising). The key to get into all of the Google sites is a Gmail account. That will allow you to sign in to most of the sites owned by Google. A concern has come up this week because Google has changed its privacy policy and will be consolidating how they track data and sell ads. Right now, Google+ doesn't have the ubiquity of Facebook, but it is gaining traction. The killer app on Google+ is Hangout, which allows you to have a free video conference with up to 9 people. You can use it for everything from business meetings (it allows you to share your screen) to letting grandma see what the grandkids are up to.
LinkedIn - If you have any interest in professional networking, here is the place to do it. Remember, to keep it professional here. This site could be a preliminary job interview for you one day.
Yammer - This site is essentially private social networking for companies. You have to have an e-mail address for a particular company to be granted access if that company is on Yammer. A great place to collaborate with co-workers in other locations. Keep it professional.
Twitter - Technically, Twitter is what is known as microblogging. Your posts are limited to 140 characters. You can interact with all kinds of people, including celebrities, entertainers, athletes, and politicians. I have attended online training sessions as part of my full time job where the presenter used a hashtag (#) with the name of the session and the attendees could interact with each other even though we couldn't see each other. Twitter also gets a lot of use during big events like political debates and big sports events.

The sites listed above are the ones I strongly recommend. Here are a few more for your consideration.
Pinterest - right now, you have to be invited. If you know someone who is already on it, they can invite you. Pinterest has really caught on with women and artistic types. You "pin" images on "boards". It is very visual.
Tumblr - technically, Tumblr is a blogging site. It is very popular with the younger demographic and the media. That brings up the ethical dilemma of should us old people all band together and ruin it for the youngsters the way we did Facebook.
Blogger and Wordpress - these seem to be the two most popular blogging sites. There are advantages and disadvantages to each. Wordpress is more popular and can be customized more, but if you get too fancy you will have to pay for some features and may have to pay for a we site to host your blog. Blogger (owned by Google) is free. I use it and have found it to meet my needs so far. Here is an article from Lifehacker that can help you decide which blogging service is right for you.
Flickr and Picasa - these are popular photo sharing sites. The advantage to using a photo sharing site is that you have more options than just posting them on a site like Facebook. There are other photo sharing sites, including Kodak. Many of them also offer (or push) things like buying prints and calendars and mouse pads and other items with your photos printed on them.
YouTube - many people just think of YouTube for looking at funny videos or movie trailers. If you create an account, you can upload and share videos, make collections of your favorites, and comment and rate other videos.
Wikipedia - Michael Scott (yes, that Michael Scott) has been known to expound on how great it is to be able to find accurate answers at a site like Wikipedia. They depend on people who contribute and edit information. If you have some expertise, you can share it. You can also make sure that what is posted is accurate.

Robert's Guide to Social Media

I am a proud participant in Toastmasters. Being a Toastmaster has really helped me polish my presentation skills. I enjoy our meetings (although I can't attend as much as I want to because of business travel) and learn much from our other club members. If you have a need to develop presentation or leadership skills, I highly recommend joining a Toastmasters club in your area.

Here is a link to the Toasmasters International web site, where you can look for a club near you:

http://www.toastmasters.org/

Here is the link to the web site for my club, Voices of Leadership, in High Point, NC

http://vol.freetoasthost.net/

I am giving a speech today at my Toastmasters club on social media. As part of my speech, I need to make some information available so that those who are interested can follow up on social media sites that they might be interested in. After my speech, I will post a PDF of my presentation. 

Here are the links to the social media sites that I will be discussing today:

General social networking

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/

Google+: plus.google.com

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com

Yammer: www.yammer.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com

Tumblr: www.tumblr.com

Blogging:
Blogger: www.blogger.com
Wordpress: http://wordpress.com/

Photo and video sharing

YouTube: www.youtube.com

Flickr: www.flickr.com

Picasa: picasa.google.com

Other web sites mentioned:

Gmail: mail.google.com

Wikipedia: www.wikipedia.org

Barfblog: http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/barfblog

Stomach Flu Season?

I have been meaning to write a blog post about this subject, but something happened yesterday that spurred me into action. I was watching the Outback Bowl, and saw my alma mater, the mighty Bulldogs of the University of Georgia, go down in 3 overtimes to Michigan State University. After the game, as I was sitting there in stunned silence wondering how we could blow a 16-0 lead at halftime, my local TV station cut to their previously scheduled programming, already in progress. It was an episode of The Doctors (click here for the episode summary), and it cut into a segment on foodborne illness, although they didn't exactly call it that. They were talking about gastroenteritis, also known as the "stomach flu."

Those who have been in one of my food safety classes will know that this is a personal pet peeve of mine. There is no such thing as the "stomach flu," and I will prove it.

First of all, in credit to The Doctors, they did give good advice about gastroenteritis. The few times I have seen the show I have liked it. My gripe (mild pun here, la grippe is French for flu) is with the use of the term "stomach flu" and I don't think that good medical professionals, public health professionals, or food safety professionals should be using this term or any of the similar terms. You have heard these terms before: 24 hour flu, intestinal virus, etc.

Why am I all worked up about this issue? Because we are improperly identifying the cause of the illness. I don't think that we recognize foodborne illness properly and when we pass it off as just a "stomach flu" we are giving a free pass to a food establishment that may have made us sick or to our own bad kitchen practices. I think we need to properly recognize what is causing all of these illnesses so that we can stop making ourselves sick.

I am going to go ahead and give away the conclusion: the flu is a respiratory illness with respiratory symptoms and foodborne illness or gastroenteritis is an illness of the digestive system.

What is the flu? The word flu is short for influenza. Influenza is a virus that cause a disease similar to, but more severe than, the common cold.

Let's compare symptoms. According to the CDC and the web site www.flu.gov here are the symptoms of the flu, or as you may often hear, "flu like symptoms."
Fever or feeling feverish/chills
Cough
Sore throat
Runny or stuffy nose
Headaches, muscle aches, or body aches
Fatigue
May have vomiting and/or diarrhea

You can trust me when I say that cough, sore throat, and runny or stuffy nose are not symptoms of foodborne illness. If you don't believe me, go to the FDA's Bad Bug Book and read all of the symptoms of all of the foodborne illnesses. You will see that foodborne illness typically attacks the gastrointestinal symptom, although some foodborne toxins will attack the nervous system. You can get a fever from most infections.

Here is an easy way to see if it is the real flu or "stomach" flu. The next time someone tells you they have a stomach flu (or 24 hour flu or whatever they call it) ask about their symptoms. If they don't have any respiratory symptoms, they don't have the real flu, caused by influenza. What they have is a foodborne illness.

Let's also put to rest the term 24 hour flu. How long did it take you to get over your last bout with the flu? Probably around 7-10 days. You can take NyQuil, but all it does it help you sleep so that your body can fight the virus. There are newer anti-viral drugs that can shave a day or two off of your pain and suffering, but ultimately there is no such thing as the 24 hour flu.

The discussion of how long it takes to get over the flu always reminds me of a great episode of one of the all time great TV shows, The Beverly Hillbillies. In "The Common Cold", Granny tries to cure Mr. Drysdale's cold. It turns out that Granny's cure is the same as what everyone already knows, it takes 7-10 days to get over a cold.

So please, let's call a foodborne illness what it is. No more "stomach flu."


Extra reference: WebMD has a great article about the difference between influenza and the stomach flu. Read it at this link.

Putting Food Safety FIRST

For my first post about something other than myself, I will be promoting the FIRST organization. Recently, I learned that the FIRST LEGO League challenge this year would be on food safety, thanks to a post by Dr. Ben Chapman on Barfblog. 

My son, Michael, participated in FIRST in high school and I think it is a great organization. For middle and high school students who are interested in any of the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) areas, FIRST is an organization where you can find others who share your same interests. It takes science and problem solving, organizes it into a competition, and teaches students some valuable life lessons along the way. It will help prepare them to work with others and solve problems. I have not seen another organization for youth that I thought gives them better preparation for life as an adult in the working world.

There are different levels of competition in FIRST, depending on the students' grade level. This year, the FIRST LEGO League (for students age 9-14) is having a competition with a food safety theme. I hope some of some of the young scientists involved in the competition will one day go on to solve problems with will prove of great benefit to humanity, including delivering safe food to a hungry population. Maybe one of these young students, who is not used to looking at problems in the same way adults do, will come up with a solution that can be quickly put into action on farms or in production plants. As recent outbreaks have shown, we can't come up with solutions fast enough.

I can't make a blog entry about FIRST without giving a shout out to the students on Team Prion at Grimsley High School in Greensboro, North Carolina. My son participated on the team during the 2009-2010 school year. Go Whirlies!

Good luck to all of this year's competitors in the FIRST competitions. Thanks in advance for the ways that you will benefit humanity in the future.