Public health Q

Re: Public health Q

Mark Holmes — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:09:44 GMT

[quote user="robloxley"]

However well you intend to cook your slightly old/iffy chicken, just having them in the fridge raises the risk of cross contamination of other foods that may not be cooked.

[/quote]

To be honest cross contamination is a risk with any chicken, new or old.

There has be be a line drawn somewhere and I do wonder if it is drawn in the correct place. For example if a tonne (metric for the oldies) is discarded. That would have fed perhaps 500 people. Imagine it is separately packaged food stuffs so contamination of one package does not contaminate another. a bit of food roulette. How many people would have to get V and D to make that food worth discarding?

Re: Public health Q

Bob Russell — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:48:39 GMT

[quote user="Robert Whiteford"]

[quote user="James Allsop"]the most common food poisening in UK is botulism from re-heated rice because the toxins are not destroyed by heat[/quote]

Mmm.. don't know why you got 5 stars for this one James.

Botulism is rare! Dont they still teach about the 4 fishermen in 1888 that ate duck pate and all died of botulinism?....some date a long time ago anyway!

Bacillus cereus causes most food-poisoning and this toxin is from re-heated rice. Bacterial foodpoisoning is mostly due to Campylobacter I believe, from chicken.....

[/quote]

I have a bit of a 'soft spot' for Campylobacter! My ex-wife was giving me a particularly hard time (divorce etc) and she headed off with her 'boy friend' (who was also her solicitor to make life complicated). They went off to Prague and came back with Campylobacter food poisoning that made them both very ill. I laughed and laughed and laughed...................

Re: Public health Q

Rob Loxley — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 00:12:16 GMT

However well you intend to cook your slightly old/iffy chicken, just having them in the fridge raises the risk of cross contamination of other foods that may not be cooked.

Re: Public health Q

James Allsop — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 19:45:33 GMT

[quote user="Robert Whiteford"]Mmm.. don't know why you got 5 stars for this one James.[/quote]

i dont know either unless its people fondly remembering Ron Jones' public health lectures at Liverpool, which we all attended religiously .... NOT

Re: Public health Q

Robert Whiteford — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 19:03:00 GMT

[quote user="Robert Whiteford"]Dont they still teach about the 4 fishermen in 1888 that ate duck pate and all died of botulinism?....some date a long time ago anyway![/quote]

Ooops... I should have Googled this before posting sorry. Have done so now and it was 8 people in 1922 on a fishing trip to Loch Maree in Scotland all died after eating duck pate sandwiches. This is the usually quoted scenario at lectures on Clostridial food poisonings.

Re: Public health Q

Robert Whiteford — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:54:14 GMT

[quote user="James Allsop"]the most common food poisening in UK is botulism from re-heated rice because the toxins are not destroyed by heat[/quote]

Mmm.. don't know why you got 5 stars for this one James.

Botulism is rare! Dont they still teach about the 4 fishermen in 1888 that ate duck pate and all died of botulinism?....some date a long time ago anyway!

Bacillus cereus causes most food-poisoning and this toxin is from re-heated rice. Bacterial foodpoisoning is mostly due to Campylobacter I believe, from chicken.....

Re: Public health Q

bob lehner — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 17:59:36 GMT

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]I have only had Kentucky Fried Chicken twice in my life and both times I got horrible food poisoning[/quote]

Serves you b****y right ! Anyone who eats this sort of abomination deserves a slow and lingering death.

Re: Public health Q

Bob Russell — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 17:48:25 GMT

We had a clear out of one of the cupboards in the kitchen and found baked beans exp Oct 2003. The back of the cupboard gave a snapshot of my 'between marriages' days!

I was told in no uncertain manner by my wife that I could eat the stuff if I wanted but to get my life insurance checked first. Such is true love!

Re: Public health Q

Bob Russell — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 17:44:50 GMT

Check out 'Freeganism' - the way forward for poorly paid vets!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6933744.stm

Re: Public health Q

Arlo Guthrie — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 17:42:07 GMT

I think its a generational thing.

[quote user="Mark Holmes"]I have always resorted to the sniff test [/quote]

My Mum says exactly the same, and I grew up in a house where we didn't open a tin of beans until it was obviously rusty, eat yoghurt until it was fizzy (it doesn't seem to go fizzy these days, dunno why), or generally eat anything that wasn't at least two weeks beyond its sell by date, or have the sort of growth you normally don't see outside a petri dish.

My wife, on the other hand, throws anything even approaching its sell by date. Drives me mad!

I'm told (reliably or not, I don't know) that the supermarkets build in at least a month's safety margin. On that basis, the other day I scoffed a load of unopened smoked salmon that was 10 days past, and survived to tell the tale.

Tend to treat any food that has been opened with greater respect. Likewise, uncooked fish and white meat. But otherwise I'm increasingly leaning towards 'use by' + 1 month, unless it smells bad.

Re: Public health Q

Alan Tevendale — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 17:17:31 GMT

[quote user="Gillian Mostyn"]

[quote user="Mark Holmes"]Heat Stable but not too nasty, 2-3 days of vomiting/diarrhoea and stomach cramps but non lethal. I guess it depends of your definition of nasty![/quote]

2-3 days of vomitting? Stomach cramps? 'Not too nasty'? Wow - you have excellent tolerance levels for illness - sounds awful to me!

[/quote]

If you think that's nasty you should try man flu

Re: Public health Q

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 16:26:23 GMT

Semi-relevant PS.

I have only had Kentucky Fried Chicken twice in my life and both times I got horrible food poisoning.

Re: Public health Q

Gillian Mostyn — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 16:14:33 GMT

[quote user="Mark Holmes"]Heat Stable but not too nasty, 2-3 days of vomiting/diarrhoea and stomach cramps but non lethal. I guess it depends of your definition of nasty![/quote]

2-3 days of vomitting? Stomach cramps? 'Not too nasty'? Wow - you have excellent tolerance levels for illness - sounds awful to me!

Re: Public health Q

James Allsop — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 16:10:00 GMT

if i remember correctly from my public health lectures that i tried to stay awake in... the most common food poisening in UK is botulism from re-heated rice because the toxins are not destroyed by heat

Re: Public health Q

Mark Holmes — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 16:01:31 GMT

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]

I can't quote anything and I might be completely wrong, but my understanding was always that staphylococcal toxins were a) not destroyed by cooking and b) very nasty.

I agree with you about use-by dates and wastage though.

[/quote]

Just googled it, 50% correct. Heat Stable but not too nasty, 2-3 days of vomiting/diarrhoea and stomach cramps but non lethal. I guess it depends of your definition of nasty!

Unfortunatly it does mean my wife has some grounds for her argument which is going to cause me all sorts of bother if she finds out!

Re: Public health Q

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 15:55:01 GMT

I can't quote anything and I might be completely wrong, but my understanding was always that staphylococcal toxins were a) not destroyed by cooking and b) very nasty.

I agree with you about use-by dates and wastage though.