Family Living
Focus
Sharon Stencovage
Schuylkill Co.
Extension Agent
Fight BAC!™ - Four Simple
Steps to Food Safety
A few months ago the
Partnership for Food Safety
Education, a national coalition
of industry, government and
consumer groups, launched a
public education campaign
called Fight BAG!™ that focuses
on safe food handling. This edu
cational program encourages
consumers to think about food
safety at each step in the food
handling process - from shop
ping to shoring leftovers. The
following are the four basic
Fight BAG!™ messages that
consumers need to follow to keep
food safe from harmful bacteria:
• Clean: Wash hands and sur
faces often.
Bacteria can spread through
out the kitchen and get onto cut-
We watch over every step in the manufacture, assembly and construction of
your building. Morton operates five manufacturing facilities, strategically
located to serve you efficiently.
Our high-volume buying power enables us to purchase the finest raw
materials at the lowest possible price. Components for your structure are
manufactured, fabricated and assembled under the watchful eyes of quality
control experts.
We maintain a fleet of company-owned and operated trucks, enabling our
drivers to unload your building materials quickly and safely.
From that point, a crew of company-trained, company-employed, and
company-insured construction professionals takes over. They are trained to
follow the most efficient and safe construction methods possible, and are
supplied with state-of-the-art equipment and quality materials to make your
facility something to be proud of jor years to come. ;
ting boards, utensils, sponges,
and counter tops. Wash hands,
utensils and surfaces with hot
soapy water before and after
food preparation, and especially
after preparing meat, poultry,
eggs or seafood to protect ade
quately against bacteria. Hand
washing is also critical after
using the bathroom, changing
diapers and handling pets.
Using a disinfectant cleaner of a
mixture of bleach and water on
surfaces and antibacterial soap
on hands can provide some
added protection.
• Separate: Don’t cross-conta
minate.
Cross-contamination is the
scientific word for how bacteria
can be spread from one food
product to another. This is espe
cially true when handling raw-
meat, poultry and seafood, so
keep these foods and their juices
away from ready-to-eat foods.
Separate these food products
while shopping and in the refrig
erator.
Never place cooked food on a
plate which previously held raw
meat, poultry, and seafood. The
raw juices will contaminate the
cooked products with bacteria.
Use plastic or other non
porous cutting boards, because
of their cleanability. If possible
use a different cutting board tor
raw products. These boards
should be run through the dish
washer—or washed in hot soapy
water — after using and espe
cially after they come in contact
with raw meat, poultry and
seafood.
•Cook: Cook to proper tem
peratures.
Food safety experts agree
that foods are properly cooked
when they are heated for a long
enough time at at a high enough
temperature to kill the harmful
bacteria that cause foodbome
illnesses. Use a clean thermome
ter, which measures the internal
temperature of cooked foods, to
make sure meat, poultry,
casseroles and other foods are
cooked all the way through. Use
the following cooking tips to
ensure doneness:
• Cook roasts and steaks to at
qraft-biut
CONSTRUCTION, INC.
MANHEIM, PA
(717) 653-4023
Pre-Engineered Buildings
Lifetime Design Warranty
Dairy Equine
Self-Storage Conunerical
m MORTON
** BUILDINGS
717/624-3331
3369 York Rd.
Gettysburg, PA 17325
800-447-7436
least 145°F. Whole poultry
should be cooked to 180°F for
doneness.
• Cook ground beef, where
bacteria can spread during pro
cessing, to at least 160°F. Gating
undercooked, pink ground beef
has been linked to a higher risk
of illness. If a thermometer is
not available, do not eat ground
beef that is still pink.
•Cook eggs until both the
yolk and white are firm. Don’t
use recipes in which eggs
remain raw or only partially
cooked.
• Fish should be opaque and
flake easily with a fork.
• When cooking in a
microwave oven, make sure
there are no cold spots in food
where bacteria can survive. For
best results, cover food, stir and
rotate for even cooking. If there
is no turntable, rotate the dish
by hand once or twice during
cooking.
•Bring sauces, soups, and
gravy to a boil when reheating.
Heat other leftovers thoroughly
to at least 165°F.
• Chill: Refrigerate promptly.
Refrigerate foods quickly
Cargill
Schol
MINN. Cargill Inc., has
awarded six area students with
$lOOO scholarships as part of
the Cargill Scholarship Program
for Rural America. Joy Lesher of
Line Mountain High School;
Kristin Myers of Francis Scott
Key High School; Michael
Harrison of South Carroll High
School; Heidi Drury of Clear
Spring High School; Jennifer
Johnson of Elkland Area High
School; and Justin Selleck of
Troy Senior High School were all
winners.
This year’s scholarship pro
gram, in its 13th year, attracted
2,432 applicants competing for
250 awards across the United
908/454-7900
P.O. Box 126,
Phillipsburg, NJ 08865
Illinois only, call
1-800-426-6666
Lancaster Pfenning, Saturday, May 30,1998-B9
because cold temperatures keep
harmful bacteria from growing
and multiplying. Set your refrig
erator no higher than 40°F and
the freezer unit at O°F. Check
these temperatures occasionally
with an appliance thermometer.
Use the following guidelines to
properly refrigerate foods:
• Refrigerate or freeze perish
ables, prepared food and left
overs within two hours or soon-
• Never defrost food at room
temperature. Thaw food in the
refrigerator, under cold running
water or in the microwave.
Marinate foods in the refrigera
tor.
• Divide large amounts of
leftovers into small, shallow con
tainers for quick cooling in the
refrigerator.
• Don’t pack the refrigerator.
Cool air must circulate to keep
food safe.
Remember bacteria cause
foodbome illness and are our
invisible enemies. Use the four
powerful weapons listed above
to make your meals and snacks
as safe as possible. So in other
words - Fight BAG!™
Awards
arships
States. All applicants are high
school seniors from U.S. Farm
Families.
This $250,000 program is
designed to recognize and
encourage academic achieve
ment, accomplishments and tal
ents of young people from farm
families throughout the United
States. The National FFA
Organization manages the selec
tion process; however, appli
cants do not have to be FFA
members to receive a scholar
ship. Cargill sponsors these
scholarships as a special project
of the National FFA Foundation.
Cargill is a diversified
agribusiness company based in
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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FEitNUT ■
5 TOLLS
■ For ■ •
bedding
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as bedding for all I
kinds of beat and I
dairy cattle, hogs,
l horses, sheep and
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Any amount delivered
V or call for at farm.
Esbenshade
Turkey Farm
(America’s Oldest —Since 1858)
PO Box 337
l Paradise, Pa.
(717) 687-7631