Wellmune

Disease-causing germs aren’t just spread by sneezes and handshakes. You can catch some pretty nasty bugs by eating food contaminated by bacteria. Even if you think your kitchen is spotless, you could unknowingly be putting yourself and your family at risk.

Each year, one in six people get sick from eating tainted food. Most of those people experience gastrointestinal troubles for a day or two, but severe cases, such as the recent Listeria outbreak from cantaloupe, can be devastating. According to the Centers for Disease Control, each year about 3,000 people in the United States die from food borne pathogens.

Most cases of food poisoning are caused by bacteria. It can infect all fresh foods (meats, eggs, dairy, produce, etc.). Particularly nasty and resistant bacteria can even infect cooked dishes such as gravies or casseroles left out too long.

You go to great lengths to serve nutritious food. Here are ways to ensure that you’re not also serving your family unwanted germs:

• Cleaning: Before unpacking groceries or beginning food preparation, clean kitchen surfaces with one teaspoon bleach to one quart water. Also, wash your hands with soap and warm water before you start cooking and immediately after handling raw meats.
• Grocery shopping: Always bag raw meat separately and store it in its own area of the grocery cart. When you get home, place raw meats on the lowest shelf of your refrigerator to prevent juices from dripping onto other food.
• Freezing and Refrigerating: Freeze or refrigerate your groceries as soon as you get home from the supermarket. Freezing does not kill bacteria, which can spread fast between 40° and 140° Fahrenheit.
• Defrosting/Thawing: Never defrost food at room temperature, which accelerates bacterial growth. There are three safe ways to thaw foods: in the microwave, in the refrigerator or in cold water. Foods defrosted in the microwave or cold water should be cooked immediately to avoid being left at unsafe temperatures. Never heat or eat from the same plate where raw foods thawed. Don’t re-freeze foods that have thawed completely.
• Rinsing: Rinse all fresh fruits and vegetables, even organic foods (you don’t know who touched them in transit and at the supermarket), as well as produce with inedible skins. Most people are unaware that bacteria on the rinds can travel inside when you slice through the fruit or vegetable. There’s no need to rinse raw meats. That’s unlikely to remove bacteria, and may actually spread the juices (and bacteria) around your kitchen.
• Cutting Boards: If possible, have two cutting boards. Reserve one exclusively for produce, the other for raw meat, poultry and seafood. If you only have one, always cut fruits and vegetables before you use the board to cut meat. Wash it thoroughly afterward. The same rules apply to knives and other food preparation tools.
• Microwaving: Allowing your frozen foods to ‘stand’ after heating, ensures that that they are heated thoroughly and evenly.
• Cooking Times for Proteins: Color is not a reliable indicator of doneness. Use a food thermometer to check that meat, casseroles and egg dishes have reached the minimum safe temperature.
• Leftovers: Pop uneaten portions and doggie bags into the refrigerator no more than two hours after serving.

Home-cooked meals are typically more nutritious than restaurant food or a meal in a bag. They are packed with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that will keep your immune system healthy. Teach these simple precautions to your youngsters too! Everyone in your household needs to know how to keep the good nutrition in, and the bad germs out!

You might want to think twice the next time you pay cash for a burger or giant pretzel, then use your hands to pop a bite into your mouth. Because your mom was right: our money really is full of disgusting germs.

Think about it: anything that gets onto our hands can get onto our money. Kids stuff their shoes with money. We pick up coins from dirty parking lots. Sick people handle money all the time. There can be millions of germs on money at any given point. Germs cling to paper money more easily than coins, and the older the bill, the more germs it probably carries.

Various studies over the years have found fecal bacteria and other common germs such as Staphylococcus aureus on U.S. currency. According to the Federal Reserve, the average bill lasts just 16 months before it is too soiled to use and is removed from circulation.

Since the late 1990s, some Japanese banks have taken ‘money laundering’ to a whole new level with ‘clean ATM’ machines. Customers insert their yen into the machine, where it is sanitized using high heat, then returned to the customers. Of course, once someone touches the money again, it becomes contaminated.

It’s reassuring to know that most bacteria die on surfaces within hours unless they have the right growing conditions. But while experts say your risk of contracting a serious infection from dirty money isn’t very high, there could be enough germs on your cash to transmit a cold virus. Or if heavily soiled money comes into contact with an open sore, you might get an infection. Again, not likely, but possible. Plus, there’s simply that ‘yuck’ factor of not knowing what kinds of germs you’re touching.

Bottom line: play it safe by always washing your hands after handling money, and especially before touching your eyes, nose or mouth.