How clean is your kitchen?

By Mat Loup
Vancouver, BC
February 14, 2008

Sometimes the proof of the pudding is not just in the eating; it's whether you can still look back fondly on your meal 12 hours later. Romantic dinners, sumptuous sushi, and even humble sandwiches have all been ruined by food poisoning, which can lead to stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. 

According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (www.inspection.gc.ca/ ): "Public health experts estimate that there are 11 to 13 million cases of foodborne illness in Canada every year." More locally, a recent food-safety bulletin from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control estimated that there are 477,000 cases in this province annually.

Yet many of these unpleasant attacks could be prevented by improved hygiene in home kitchens. You may think your kitchen is Mary Poppins-immaculate and your food-prep techniques would put Martha Stewart to shame, but you may be wrong. 

The Georgia Straight invited Jasmina Egeler, regional food-safety coordinator for the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, to inspect an average kitchen. The first thing she recommended was to go straight home after buying groceries to prevent them from getting warm.

Egeler noted that perishable foods should be put away first, but they need to go in the right place. "If you have raw meat...and it's defrosting and your kid comes home and tosses an apple right on top, there's a potential for transferring the bacteria that's present on the raw meat onto the apple," Egeler said.

"One of the other really important factors to consider is the temperature of your fridge," Egeler added. "You should have a thermometer, and have it...at the very front so you can monitor it. It [the temperature] should be at four degrees Celsius or below."

There can be nasty bacteria lurking in food, including Campylobacter jejuni and E. coli O157:H7. The latter is commonly found in ground beef and other beef products, while Campylobacter’s favourite host is chicken. 

Fish and shellfish can be dangerous too. "With the increase in raw-fish consumption, you need to consider whether or not that fish is prone to parasites," Egeler advised. "If it is-like salmon, for example-it needs to be frozen...at a certain temperature to destroy the parasites. I've spoken to people that have passed fish tapeworms through eating undercooked salmon."

The Health Canada Web site notes, "It's not unusual for raw turkey and chicken to be contaminated" by salmonella. This can lead to some serious problems, Egeler said.

"Some people are really attached to washing raw chicken in the sink," she said. "You're washing your chicken or turkey out and contaminating your entire sink. You can"t see the bacteria with your eye." According to Egeler, you don't need to wash poultry at all.

Cooking at high temperatures usually kills the bacteria present in many foods, but that doesn't deal with any spread on countertops or utensils while preparing the food. First and foremost, you should regularly wash your hands. As well, your dishcloths should be cleaned or changed every day.

"What bacteria need to basically grow and multiply and when they're happiest is when there's moisture, when there's food to eat-protein-and when they're at room temperature," Egeler said. "So what happens is that you make the cloth wet...you wipe your countertop down, and it looks clean. You can't see the microorganisms that are still on the surface."

Vancouver Coastal Health recommends using plastic cutting boards, as opposed wooden ones, which are difficult to clean thoroughly. Laura Cullen, sessional instructor in the food, nutrition, and health program at UBC, recommends being very watchful.

"One major area [of concern] is...cross-contamination, where people would use the same knife and cutting board to prepare multiple items," she said. "They might give it a quick wipe or run it under a tap, but...they could be transmitting pathogens from one food to another."

For cooking itself, use a thermometer to check if the meat is ready-and safe. Egeler recommended 165 ° F (74 ° C). "Chicken has to be cooked thoroughly. Don't do a visual check, insert a thermometer."

And, only reheat leftovers once. "Using a microwave for reheating doesn't reheat things consistently," Egeler said. "It's better to do it in a saucepan on the stove and bring it to a boil."

The moral here is that you can't be too careful in your kitchen. But the more you follow the commonsense principles of cleanliness, the more you'll enjoy your meals.