Food Defense

What Consumers Need to Know

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Topics

• What Consumers Need to Know… Handling Food Safely

Consumers should always follow basic safe food handling rules to protect themselves and ensure that the foods they eat are safe. They include:

CLEAN: Wash hands and surfaces often. Keep everything clean while preparing meals. Wash hands and kitchen surfaces often with soap and water. Wash cutting boards, dishes, and utensils after preparing each food item and before going on to the next item. Paper towels are recommended for cleaning up kitchen surfaces.

SEPARATE: Don’t cross-contaminate. Separate raw meat, poultry, and seafood from other foods when shopping at the grocery store and storing them in your refrigerator. Use one cutting board for raw meat, poultry, and seafood and a separate one for other food. Never place cooked food on a plate that previously held raw meat, poultry, or seafood unless the plate has been thoroughly cleaned.

COOK: Cook to safe temperatures. Use a food thermometer to make sure meat, poultry, and egg dishes are cooked to safe temperatures. Do not second-guess the internal temperature of cooked foods—follow the recommended temperatures in the chart below. Keep hot food hot, 140 ºF or above. When reheating, leftovers should be thoroughly heated to 165 ºF; sauces and soup should be brought to a rolling boil.

CHILL: Refrigerate promptly. Refrigerate or freeze perishables, prepared food, and leftovers within 2 hours. Place leftovers into shallow containers for rapid cooling. The refrigerator should be maintained at 40 ºF or below and the freezer at 0 ºF or below. Use an appliance thermometer to check the temperature. Keep cold food cold, 40 ºF or below. Never defrost food at room temperature. Thaw food in the refrigerator, under cold running water, or in the microwave. Marinate foods in the refrigerator.

• What Consumers Need to Know... Foodborne Illness

What Is Foodborne Illness? Foodborne illness often presents itself as flu-like symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or fever, so many people may not recognize the illness is caused by bacteria or other pathogens in food.

Thousands of types of bacteria are naturally present in our environment. Not all bacteria cause disease in humans. For example, some bacteria are used beneficially in making cheese and yogurt.

Bacteria that cause disease are called pathogens. When certain pathogens enter the food supply, they can cause foodborne illness. Millions of cases of foodborne illness occur each year. Most cases of foodborne illness can be prevented. Proper cooking or processing of food destroys bacteria.

Age and physical condition place some persons at higher risk than others, no matter what type of bacteria is implicated. Very young children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems are at greatest risk from any pathogen. Some persons may become ill after ingesting only a few harmful bacteria; others may remain symptom free after ingesting thousands.

How Bacteria Get in Food

Bacteria may be present on products when you purchase them. Plastic-wrapped boneless chicken breasts and ground meat, for example, were once part of live chickens or cattle. Raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs are not sterile. Neither is fresh produce such as lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, and melons.

Foods, including safely cooked, ready-to-eat foods, can become cross-contaminated with bacteria transferred from raw products, meat juices or other contaminated products, or from food handlers with poor personal hygiene.

The "Danger Zone"

Bacteria multiply rapidly between 40 °F and 140 °F. To keep food out of this "Danger Zone," keep cold food cold and hot food hot.

• Store food in the refrigerator (40 °F or below) or freezer (0 °F or below).
• Cook food to a safe minimum internal temperature.
  • Beef, veal, and lamb steaks, roasts, and chops may be cooked to 145 °F.
  • All cuts of pork to 160 °F.
  • Ground beef, veal and lamb to 160 °F.
  • All poultry should reach a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F.
• Maintain hot cooked food at 140 °F or above.
• When reheating cooked food, reheat to 165 °F.

In Case of Suspected Foodborne Illness Follow these general guidelines:

1. Preserve the evidence. If a portion of the suspect food is available, wrap it securely, mark "DANGER" and freeze it. Save all the packaging materials, such as cans or cartons. Write down the food type, the date, other identifying marks on the package, the time consumed, and when the onset of symptoms occurred. Save any identical unopened products.


2. Seek treatment as necessary. If the victim is in an "at risk" group, seek medical care immediately. Likewise, if symptoms persist or are severe (such as bloody diarrhea, excessive nausea and vomiting, or high temperature), call your doctor.


3. Call the local health department if the suspect food was served at a large gathering, from a restaurant or other food service facility, or if it is a commercial product.


4. Call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline if the suspect food is a USDA-inspected product and you have all the packaging.

Bacteria that Causes Foodborne Illness
Bacteria	Found	Transmission	Symptoms
Campylobacter jejuni	intestinal tracts of animals and birds, raw milk, untreated water, and sewage sludge.	Contaminated water, raw milk, and raw or undercooked meat, poultry, or shellfish.	Fever, headache and muscle pain followed by diarrhea (sometimes bloody), abdominal pain, and nausea that appear 2 to 5 days after eating; may last 7 to 10 days.
Clostridium Botulinum	Widely distributed in nature; soil, water, on plants, and intestinal tracts of animals and fish. Grows only in little or no oxygen.	Bacteria produce a toxin that causes illness. Improperly canned foods, garlic in oil, vacuum-packed and tightly wrapped food.	Toxin affects the nervous system. Symptoms usually appear 18 to 36 hours, but can sometimes appear as few as 4 hours or as many as 8 days after eating; double vision, droopy eyelids, trouble speaking and swallowing, and difficulty breathing. Fatal in 3 to 10 days if not treated.
Clostridium perfringens	Soil, dust, sewage, and intestinal tracts of animals and humans. Grows only in little or no oxygen.	Called "the cafeteria germ" because many outbreaks result from food left for long periods in steam tables or at room temperature. Bacteria destroyed by cooking, but some toxin-producing spores may survive.	Diarrhea and gas pains may appear 8 to 24 hours after eating; usually last about 1 day, but less severe symptoms may persist for 1 to 2 weeks.
Escherichia coli O157:H7	Intestinal tracts of some mammals, raw milk, unchlorinated water; one of several strains of E. coli that can cause human illness.	Contaminated water, raw milk, raw or rare ground beef, unpasteurized apple juice or cider, uncooked fruits and vegetables; person-to-person.	Diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea, and malaise; can begin 2 to 5 days after food is eaten, lasting about 8 days. Some, especially the very young, have developed hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) that causes acute kidney failure.
Listeria monocytogenes	Intestinal tracts of humans and animals, milk, soil, leaf vegetables; can grow slowly at refrigerator temperatures.	Ready-to-eat foods such as hot dogs, luncheon meats, cold cuts, fermented or dry sausage, and other deli-style meat and poultry, soft cheeses and unpasteurized milk.	Fever, chills, headache, backache, sometimes upset stomach, abdominal pain and diarrhea; may take up to 3 weeks to become ill; may later develop more serious illness in at-risk patients (pregnant women and newborns, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems).
Salmonella (over 2300 types)	Intestinal tracts and feces of animals; Salmonella Enteritidis in eggs.	Raw or undercooked eggs, poultry, and meat; raw milk and dairy products; seafood, and food handlers.	Stomach pain, diarrhea, nausea, chills, fever, and headache usually appear 8 to 72 hours after eating; may last 1 to 2 days.
Shigella (over 30 types)	Human intestinal tract; rarely found in other animals.	Person-to-person by fecal-oral route; fecal contamination of food and water. Most outbreaks result from food, especially salads, prepared and handled by workers using poor personal hygiene.	Disease referred to as "shigellosis" or bacillary dysentery. Diarrhea containing blood and mucus, fever, abdominal cramps, chills, and vomiting; 12 to 50 hours from ingestion of bacteria; can last a few days to 2 weeks.
Staphylococcus aureus	On humans (skin, infected cuts, pimples, noses, and throats).	Person-to-person through food from improper food handling. Multiply rapidly at room temperature to produce a toxin that causes illness.	Severe nausea, abdominal cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea occur 1 to 6 hours after eating; recovery within 2 to 3 days -- longer if severe dehydration occurs.




Last Modified: March 27, 2008

• What Consumers Need to Know… Product Recall

When meat and poultry products are recalled, FSIS notifies the public in two ways—through a press release and a Recall Notification Report (RNR). FSIS distributes the press release to local and national newspapers and television and radio stations so the information can be made available to consumers. Both the press release and RNR are posted on the FSIS Recall Web site: www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/recalls/rec_intr.htm.

The press release and RNR include information that consumers and suppliers can use to identify the product that is being recalled. This information includes:

• a description of the food being recalled;
• any identifying codes, including the plant number, which is located in the USDA Inspection Mark on the label (the number is preceded by either the letters EST for “establishment” or P for “poultry”);
• the reason for the recall;
• the name of the producer;
• distribution information;
• the health risk for the recall; and
• the appropriate contact persons for FSIS and the recalling company.

If you discover that you have a recalled product in your home, do not consume it. Instead, return it to the place of purchase. If you become ill from a recalled product, contact a physician.
 

• What Consumers Need to Know… Keeping Food Safe During Emergencies

ABCD’s of Keeping Food Safe During an Emergency

Always keep meat, poultry, fish, and eggs refrigerated at or below 40 °F and frozen food at or below 0 °F. This may be difficult when the power is out.

Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature. The refrigerator will keep food safely cold for about 4 hours if it is unopened. A full freezer will hold the temperature for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) if the door remains closed. Obtain dry or block ice to keep your refrigerator as cold as possible if the power is going to be out for a prolonged period of time. Use 2 ½ to 3 pounds of dry ice per cubic foot in your freezer; 50 pounds of dry ice should hold an 18-cubic foot full freezer for 2 days. Plan ahead and know where dry ice and block ice can be purchased.

Be prepared for an emergency...
... by having items on hand that don’t require refrigeration and can be eaten cold or heated on the outdoor grill. Shelf-stable food, boxed or canned milk, water, and canned goods should be part of a planned emergency food supply. Make sure you have ready-to-use baby formula for infants and pet food. Remember to use these items and replace them from time to time. Be sure to keep a hand-held can opener for an emergency.

Consider what you can do ahead of time to store your food safely in an emergency. If you live in a location that could be affected by a flood, plan your food storage on shelves that will be safely out of the way of contaminated water. Coolers are a great help for keeping food cold if the power will be out for more than 4 hours—have a couple on hand along with frozen gel packs. When your freezer is not full, keep items close together—this helps the food stay cold longer.

Digital, dial, or instant-read food thermometers and appliance thermometers will help you know if the food is at safe temperatures. Keep appliance thermometers in the refrigerator and freezer at all times. When the power is out, an appliance thermometer will always indicate the temperature in the refrigerator and freezer no matter how long the power has been out. The refrigerator temperature should be 40 °F or below; the freezer, 0 °F or lower. If you’re not sure a particular food is cold enough, take its temperature with a food thermometer.

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• How Can You Keep Food Safe During a Power Failure?

If the power is out for less than 4 hours, then the food in your refrigerator and freezer will be safe to consume. While the power is out, keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to keep food cold for longer.

If the power is out for longer than 4 hours, follow the guidelines below:


•  For the Freezer section: A freezer that is half full will hold food safely for up to 24 hours. A full freezer will hold food safely for 48 hours. Do not open the freezer door if you can avoid it.

•  For the Refrigerated section: Pack milk, other dairy products, meat, fish, eggs, gravy, and spoilable leftovers into a cooler surrounded by ice. Inexpensive Styrofoam coolers are fine for this purpose.

•  Use a digital quick-response thermometer to check the temperature of your food right before you cook or eat it. Throw away any food that has a temperature of more than 40 degrees Fahrenheit.


The following resources provide additional information on preparing for emergencies and determining if your food is safe after a power outage:



• Food Safety After a Power Outage, American Red Cross
  Provides tips on safely storing your food and a chart to help you determine if your food is still safe.
  
  
• Keeping Food Safe in an Emergency (USDA)
  
  
  • Fact Sheet: Is the Food Still Safe When the Power Goes Out? (UWEX)
  • Fact Sheet: Food Safety after a Flood (UWEX)
  • Fact Sheet: Safety of Produce from Flooded Gardens (UWEX)
  • Fact Sheet: Storing Food for Short Term Emergencies  (UWEX)
  • Fact Sheet: Storing Water for Short Term Emergencies  (UWEX)

Safe Drinking Water

When power goes out, water purification systems may not be functioning fully. Safe water for drinking, cooking, and personal hygiene includes bottled, boiled, or treated water. Your state or local health department can make specific recommendations for boiling or treating water in your area. Here are some general rules concerning water for drinking, cooking, and personal hygiene.

Remember:

• Do not use contaminated water to wash dishes, brush your teeth, wash and prepare food, wash your hands, make ice, or make baby formula. If possible, use baby formula that does not need to have water added. You can use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer to wash your hands.


• If you use bottled water, be sure it came from a safe source. If you do not know that the water came from a safe source, you should boil or treat it before you use it. Use only bottled, boiled, or treated water until your supply is tested and found safe.


• Boiling water, when practical, is the preferred way to kill harmful bacteria and parasites. Bringing water to a rolling boil for 1 minute will kill most organisms.


• When boiling water is not practical, you can treat water with chlorine tablets, iodine tablets, or unscented household chlorine bleach (5.25% sodium hypochlorite):


• If you use chlorine tablets or iodine tablets, follow the directions that come with the tablets.


• If you use household chlorine bleach, add 1/8 teaspoon of bleach per gallon of water if the water is clear. For cloudy water, add 1/4 teaspoon of bleach per gallon. Mix the solution thoroughly and let it stand for about 30 minutes before using it.

  Note: Treating water with chlorine tablets, iodine tablets, or liquid bleach will not kill parasitic organisms.
  
  Use a bleach solution to rinse water containers before reusing them. Use water storage tanks and other types of containers with caution. For example, fire truck storage tanks and previously used cans or bottles may be contaminated with microbes or chemicals. Do not rely on untested devices for decontaminating waste.

For guidelines on refreezing food when the power comes back on, visit the Food Safety and Inspection Service's page on Keeping Food Safe in an Emergency.

• What Food and Water Should You Keep in Your Home?

The American Red Cross and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recommend the following:

• Keep a supply of nonperishable food and a 3-day supply of commercially bottled water per person (minimum of 3 gallons) on hand in case of an emergency.


• Since there may not be power, purchase food that requires no refrigeration, cooking, water, or special preparation. Good food choices are dried fruit; canned fruit or vegetables; shelf-stable cans of meat, poultry, and fish; jars of peanut butter and jelly; small packages of cereal, granola bars, and crackers; nonfat dry milk; and small boxes of juice drinks. Select small cans of food so there won’t be any leftovers that will need refrigeration. Remember to include infant formula, pet food, and foods for family members with special dietary needs.


• Have a manually operated can opener on hand.


• Periodically use and refresh your supply. More ideas for foods to keep on hand are available at www.ready.gov
• How Long Should Canned Foods Be Kept?

Store canned foods and other shelf-stable products in a cool, dry place. Never put them above the stove, under the sink, in a damp garage or basement, or any place exposed to high or low temperature extremes. Store high-acid foods, such as tomatoes and other fruit, up to 18 months. Low-acid foods, such as meat and vegetables, can be kept 2 to 5 years.

While extremely rare, a toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum is the worst danger in canned foods. NEVER USE food from containers that show signs of “botulism”: leaking, bulging, rusting, or badly dented cans; cracked jars; jars with loose or bulging lids; canned food with a foul odor; or any container that spurts liquid when opening.

DO NOT TASTE THIS FOOD! Even the tiniest amount of botulinum toxin can be deadly.

• What Consumers Need to Know… Keeping the Food Supply Secure

Since the attacks on September 11, 2001, FSIS’ commitment to protect America’s supply of meat, poultry, and egg products from any form of intentional or unintentional contamination has never been higher.

FSIS inspectors have remained on heightened alert to detect unusual or suspicious activity and seek the assistance of law enforcement agencies when needed. FSIS re-inspects imported meat and poultry products before they are allowed to enter the U.S. food supply. The Agency works with the U.S. Customs Service and other agencies to prevent illegal shipments from coming into the country. FSIS also works closely with FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as well as with State and local health agencies, to coordinate biosecurity efforts and share information about illnesses.

In addition, FSIS is conducting food security awareness training for its field workforce. FSIS is strengthening laboratory security and improving their methods for detecting biological and chemical agents and determining their source. FSIS laboratories are part of a nationwide network that would be utilized if intentional acts jeopardized food safety.

FSIS has published guidelines that can be used to improve security measures in plants that produce meat, poultry, and egg products. Guidelines have also been published for transporters and distributors of these products. Private businesses play a vital role in reducing the threat of tampering such as limiting access to food processing areas, checking the safety of ingredients, improving packaging materials to prevent tampering, and securing transportation vehicles.

• What Consumers Need to Know … Risks of Intentional Contamination

Almost any food, beverage, or other item you ingest could be of some risk. However, safety measures practiced by the food producers, processors, and other foodservice operators and retailers, as well as common sense used by consumers, can greatly reduce the chance of having food used as a weapon to attack our country. Most of the food safety practices already in place apply equally to intentional contamination. If specific, credible threats are received, then USDA, in cooperation with other homeland security agencies, would keep the public informed of measures to take.

Consumers can also play a role by reporting unusual characteristics of meat, poultry, and egg products to their local health agency, the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854), or if appropriate, law enforcement.

• What Consumers Need to Know… Reporting Possible Food Tampering

Carefully examine all food product packaging. Be aware of the normal appearance of food containers. That way you’ll be more likely to notice if an outer seal or wrapper is missing. Compare a suspect container with others on the shelf. If you suspect your product has been tampered with, contact your local health department or law enforcement agency. If the food contains meat, poultry, or egg products, you can also call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm Eastern Time. After business hours, call the FSIS Technical Service Center’s emergency number at 1-800-233-3935. In order to help:

Preserve the evidence. If a portion of the suspect food is available and it is safe to keep it, wrap it securely, mark “DANGER” and freeze it. Save all packaging materials, such as cans, labels or cartons. Write down the food type, the date, other identifying marks on the package, the location and store where the food was purchased, the time consumed, and when symptoms occurred. Save any identical unopened products. Save all purchase receipts.

Seek treatment as necessary. If you become ill and believe your illness is due to a food product, contact your doctor. For victims in an “at-risk”group (the young, elderly, or immuno-compromised), seek medical care immediately. If symptoms persist or become severe (bloody diarrhea, excessive nausea and vomiting, or high temperature), call your doctor immediately.

Call your local health department if the suspect food was served at a large gathering, from a restaurant or other food service facility, or if it is a commercial product.

Call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) or E-mail MPHotline.fsis@usda.gov if the suspect food is a meat or poultry product. For all other food products, notify FDA at 1-888-SAFEFOOD (1-888-723-3366).

• Additional Information

For more information about food safety, visit the World Wide Web at the following sites:

Food Safety and Inspection Service
www.fsis.usda.gov

Gateway to Government Food Safety Information
www.foodsafety.gov

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
www.usda.gov

Biosecurity Information
www.fsis.usda.gov/oa/topics/biosecurity.htm

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
www.aphis.usda.gov

United States Department of Homeland Security
www.dhs.gov

Information on How to Prepare for an Emergency
www.ready.gov

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/bioterrorism.html

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
www.fema.gov

Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN)
www.agctr.lsu.edu/eden/

National Agricultural Library (NAL)
www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/emerg.html

American Red Cross
www.redcross.org/services/disaster/beprepared/food.html

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call 202-720-5964 (voice or TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.