r
Consuming
Thoughts
by
Fay Strickler
Penn State Extension Home
Economist For Berts Co.
Illness caused by contaminated
food is usually avoidable. How
you handle and store food is a
major factor in causing or pre
venting food poisoning especially
perishable foods that you store in
the refrigerator or freezer.
If you follow some simple
guidelines for food storage, you
can help prevent food poisoning.
It is very important |hat you
prevent any contact between
uncooked meat and poultry and
other foods. Overwrap the meat
package in plastic or aluminum
foil before placing it in the
refrigerator. Place the overwrap
ped package on a dish to keep the
juices from dripping onto other
foods.
If fresh produce touches raw
meat or the juices from raw meat
or poultry. DO NOT EAT IT! This
rule also applies to any other food
that will be eaten without cooking.
Food contamination commonly
occurs when raw meat juices get
onto ingredients used in a fresh
salad.
If nriv meat juices drip onto a
refrigerator shelf, clean the shelf
immediately. This will prevent
contamination of the foods.
Remember to wash your hands.
with soap and water before AND
after wrapping food items with
damaged packages. If you clean
the Inside df yottr refrigerator reg
ularly, this will also help improve
food safety. Always read food
labels and refrigerate items
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marked “refrigerate after open
ing” or “keqj refrigerated.” Check
the expiration date on refrigerated
foods, and don’t eat the food after
the “use by” date has passed.
Remember that you should
store foods in the refrigerator only
temporarily. You can mark the
purchase date on the package be
fore refrigerating it to help you
remember this. If you cannot
remember when a food was placed
in the refrigerator, throw it out.
Never eat foods that might have
been in the refrigerator too long.
.The temperature inside your
refrigerator should always be 40*F
or colder. To make sure of this,
you can use a refrigerator ther
mometer. An inexpensive ther
mometer is cheap insurance
against food poisoning.
If your power goes oout or your
refrigerator stops working, keep,
the door closed. .If the problem
continues for more than a couple
of hours you should cook any raw
meat or poultry right away. If you
need advice on food safety in your
particular situation, call the toll
free Meat and Poultry Hotline at
(800) 535-4555 or your county
Cooperative Extension office.
A freezer can extend die safe
storage time for most foods, but
proper handling is still important
Place only fresh or freshly cooked
items in die freezer, because freez
ing doesn’t make unsafe food safe
again. Frozen items don’t spoil as
quickly as those in the refrigera-
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ter, but they will lose quality and
flavor when they are stored too
long. It is helpful to overwrap
food packages in freezer wrap,
freezer-quality plastic bags, or
aluminum foil before placing
them in the freezer.
Always place items labeled
“keep frozen” in the freezer as
soon as you get home from the
supermarket In hot weather, you
may want to place these items in a
cooler for the trip home. If frozen
foods thaw and remain warm for
Powerpay Analysis Helps
Reduce Debt Payment
RUTGERS, NJ. Are you
experiencing difficulty paying
credit card bills? Do you want to
reduce the amount of time and
money required to repay existing
debts? Rutgers Cooperative
Extension of Gloucester County
has a computer program called
“Power Pay” that will calculate the
fastest way to repay your creditors
while paying the least amount of
interest.
The principle behind Power Pay
is that, as one debt is repaid, the
monthly payment from that previ
ous debt is applied to remaining
creditors until all debts are repaid.
Depending on the number of cre
ditors owed and outstanding
balances, the amount of money
saved by following the Power Pay
program can range from several
hundred dollars to well over
$lO,OOO.
With the Power Pay program,
the total amount spent monthly on
debt repayment remains the same.
Calculations can also be done of
“scenarios” with optional
additional monUtly payments
(e.g., $25). Persons requesting a
Power Pay analysis receive a
calendar indication the amount
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an hour or more during the trip
home, DO NOT refreeze them. It
is safer to discard these thawed
foods.
Always keep the freezer door
closed when power outage or
other freezer failure occurs. If the
problems last more than 24 hours,
transfer the food to another freez
er. Any food that can't be frozen
should be thrown out or eaten
right away. Meat and poultry that
have not thawed completely can
be refrozen, as long as ice crystals
that should be paid to each credi
tor until all debts are eliminated.
Up to 30 separate debts can be
analyzed by Power Pay.
To obtain a Power Pay analysis,
contact Rutgers Cooperative
Extension for a Power Pay enroll
ment kit Included is a worksheet
with spaces to provide informa
tion about the name of creditors,
the monthly payment, the interest
rate, and the outstanding balance.
Farm Queen
TIMONIUM, Md. This
weekend, 22 young women from
across the state will vie for the title
of 1997 Maryland Farm Queen at
the Maryland State Fair in
Timoniuxn.
The competition on August 23
and 24, which includes formal and
informal interviews, will culmi
nate in a public contest at 7 p.m.
Sunday in the fairground Cow
Palace.
At this time, the young women
Maryland
are still present Partly thawed
fruits and vegetables will lose
their texture and become mush if
they are refrozen.
Following these handling and
storage practices can greatly red
uce your chances of food poison
ing. Remember if you have any
doubt about the freshness or safety
of a food time, throw it out The
cost of a single item of food can
not compare with the risk of
endangering the health of your
family.
The cost of a Power Pay analysis is
$2.50.
To obtain a Power Pay work
sheet send a check, made payable
to the “Home Economics Coun
cil” to Rutgers Cooperative Ex
tension, Gloucester County Office
B>dg., 1200 N. Delsea Drive,
Clayton, NJ 08312. For additional
information about Power Pay and
other Rutgers Cooperative Ex
tension programs and services,
call (609) 863-0130 weekdays
during business hours.
To Hold
Coronation
each selected in a county con
test earlier this year will be
asked to give a one-minute speech
and answer a “fish bowl” question
concerning their knowledge of
agriculture and Maryland Farm
Bureau policies. Each young
woman is also judged on her
poise, ability to speak, and her
community involvement
For more information about the
contest, contact the Maryland
Farm Bureau at (410) 922-3426.
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