Health Action: Know your food poisoning dangers

A shiny red apple laced with hidden poison put Snow White into a long, deep sleep in the forest. If it weren’t for the dear dwarfs, the story could have had a bad non-Disney ending and Central Florida might have become a very different place.

Dangerous bacteria and toxins, the most common poisons in our food, can hide in all kinds of food, not just apples. Each year, about 1 in 6 people gets ill from contaminated food. Food-borne illnesses can range from a mild short bout of diarrhea to kidney failure and death. Older and younger, pregnant, and immune-deficient people are the most vulnerable, unable to fight off infections as easily as healthier eaters.

If you ingest contaminated food, you might feel nauseated, vomit, have water diarrhea, and fever. You may have stomach pain and cramps. It may happen a few hours, days, or weeks after eating the suspect food. Mild symptoms in a healthy person can resolve in a day or so, but contaminated food can severely affect those unable to fight it off, and some of the fortunately rare infections can affect anyone. Seek medical attention if your symptoms are more than mild.

Even the most elegant looking meal can bring microscopic enemies along with dining pleasures. The most common culprits have melodic names that might sound like lovely delicacies- salmonella, escheria coliform (aka e.coli), listeria, vibrio. Improved government oversight of meat production has reduced e. coli infections, but salmonella sends 1 million people to the hospital each year. Listeria and vibrio are relatively rare but can be deadly. Listeria typically comes from unpasteurized dairy foods and deli meats. Vibrio vulnificus, related to the cholera family, can enter the body from contaminated and uncooked seafood, especially from warm waters, such as the Gulf Coast.

Fortunately, most of these are rare. The best defense is to be as healthy as you can be. The secret to avoiding exposure to food poisoning is preparation. Keep food clean, store it at the right temperature, and cook thoroughly.

Keep food refrigerated. If packing a lunch that can’t be refrigerated, include an ice pack big enough to keep the food cold until eaten. The intense Florida heat makes food a growing haven for microbes. Don’t thaw food on the counter because the outside layer will get too warm and be a great host to bacteria. Bacteria thrive best between 40 and 140 degrees, easily the temperatures between your refrigerator and your car.

Cook food thoroughly, whether on the grill, stove or oven. Thorough cooking can usually kill the culprits. Uncooked chicken and other meat often have some bacteria that can be killed with thorough cooking. Avoid uncooked eggs, including eggs over easy with runny yokes or raw cookie dough. Careful washing of utensils and countertops used to prepare these foods can prevent contaminating other foods with the poultry’s germs.

Leftovers can be tricky. It does not have to smell or look bad to be bad. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI, cspinet.org) recommends a great “2-2-4” rule: Don’t leave food out longer than two hours (in Florida, less time, unless you keep your AC in the Artic zones), refrigerate it in swallow containers less than 2-inches deep, and use or freeze leftovers before four days (the sooner the better).

Know the quality of the food where you are eating away from home. Food safety and restaurants are regulated differently by each state. To find out the inspection status of your favorite Florida eateries, go to myfloridalicense.com/dbpr and click on “Food and Lodging Inspections.”

Maitland resident Nancy Rudner Lugo is a nurse practitioner and president of Health Action, offering workplace health consulting and nurse coaching. Visit www.healthaction.biz