University of Wisconsin - Extension

Just how safely do we handle foods? In an attempt to answer this question, scientists put cameras in the kitchens of 100 families in Logan, Utah. The families were selected because they thought they did a pretty good job with safe food handling.

But what was caught on tape in this middle-class, well-educated college town suggests why food poisoning hits so many Americans. People skipped soap when hand-washing. Used the same towel to wipe up raw meat juice as to dry their hands. Made a salad without washing the lettuce. Undercooked the meat loaf. One even tasted the marinade in which bacteria-ridden raw fish had soaked. Not to mention the Mom who handled raw chicken and then fixed her infant a bottle without washing her hands. Or another Mom who merely rinsed her baby?s juice bottle after it fell into raw eggs- no soap against the Salmonella that can lurk in eggs.

Utah State University nutritionist Janet Anderson was quoted as calling the findings, ?Shocking. While most consumers insist that they follow basic bacteria-fighting tips in their own kitchens, experts say the study findings indicate otherwise. Anderson was quoted as saying, ?People have no idea? they?re messing up. You just go in the kitchen and it?s something you don?t think about.?

For $50 and free groceries, 100 families agreed to be filmed. Their kitchens looked clean, and presumably they were on best behavior, but they didn?t know it was a safety study. Hoping to see real-life hygiene, scientists called the experiment ?market research? on how people cooked a special recipe. Scientists bought ingredients for a salad plus either Mexican meat loaf, marinated halibut or herb-breaded chicken breasts with mustard sauce- recipes designed to catch safety slip-ups. Cameras started rolling as the cooks put away the groceries. Common mistakes noted were:

Food Preparation:

Wash hands for 20 seconds with hot, soapy water before preparing food. 4.4 seconds was the average time.

• Only 45% washed hands; 16% didn?t use soap.

• Only 30% consistently used soap, many just rinsed and wiped their hands on a cloth dish-towel.

Wash knives, utensils and countertops in hot, soapy water after preparing food.

• 24% properly cleaned utensils after each use.

• 70% attempted to clean countertops, but only 29% did a good job.

Use paper towels to wipe up spills and clean surfaces.

• Only 17% used paper towels.

• Dozens wiped the countertop with the cloth towel used to dry hands, further spreading germs the next time they dried their hands.

Refrigeration:

Keep temperature at or below 40?F or below.

• 29% were above 40?F.

Store raw meat, fish and poultry on the bottom shelf so other foods don?t get contaminated by dripping juices.

• Only 25% stored meat and fish correctly.

Marinate food in the refrigerator.

• 77% marinated fish on the counter.

Cooking:

Cook chicken breasts to at least 170?F; meatloaf to 160?F; and fish to 160?F.

• 42% undercooked the chicken; 35% undercooked the meatloaf and 17% undercooked the fish.

Summarized from an AP wire story, June 19th, 2000.