Warning: Germs can spoil holidays

By Lois M. Collins
Deseret Morning News

As Utahns sit down for the feast that marks the start of the holiday season Thursday, it's important to make sure the guest list doesn't include names like hepatitis A and E. coli.

Grocery shoppers this week may have been surprised to see signs from the FDA warning against using green onions, because of a hepatitis A outbreak traced to onions imported from Mexico.

But consumers are growing used to warnings about food safety, said Charlotte Brennand, food safety specialist at Utah State University's extension office. Raw eggs, food left out too long or prepared at the wrong temperature, even use of the same dish towel to dry hands and wipe up a small spill can all cause food-borne illness.

So, what's a cook to do?

You can start by introducing a new tradition to family gatherings, Brennand said: The group hand wash. Everyone should wash their hands immediately before they eat. Doing so would eliminate a lot of illness. Hands should also be washed thoroughly every time you use the bathroom — but don't touch the door knob with that clean bare hand — and before and after you handle food, touch your eyes, nose or mouth, or have a drink.

It's not just hands that need to be washed, said Dr. Philip Bossart, an emergency room physician at University Hospital. "You need to get in the habit of washing your food. Period. It's not a problem specific to green onions. It can happen to a lot of foods. It's shortsighted to just cut that vegetable out of your diet," he said.

After all, consumers have had warnings about the safety of cantaloupe not long ago and watermelon before that. Lettuce and sprouts have been implicated in outbreaks of illness. The list is long.

Bossart said the holidays won't bring a mad rush of people to emergency rooms for food-borne illness. Most who get one will simply feel ill and deal with it, then recover. Emergency rooms will be busier, though, because it's open on holidays. And ER visits go up when people have leisure time for sports, travel and use of alcohol.

Still, he asks, who needs even a self-limiting, food-borne illness?

The average American home is an "alarmingly dangerous place," said Dr. Philip M. Tierno, director of clinical microbiology at New York University Medical Center. Author of "The Secret Life of Germs," he just finished a nationwide Harris Poll that asked about "five hotbeds" for germs in the home. Most of the problem areas are particularly relevant during the holidays, when people gather to eat and socialize and, in some cases, make each other sick.

Cross-contamination worries Brennand. A cook cuts raw meats, for instance, quickly rinses the knife of wipes it with a sponge, then uses it to cut raw foods, such as fruits and vegetables. Or uses the same fork to put raw meat in a pan, then to lift cooked meat out.

Tierno said more than half of those surveyed keep a sponge for a month or more before throwing it out or disinfecting it. The survey found that most consumers use the same sponge or dishrag to clean all their kitchen surfaces.

"The sponge harbors some of the most pathenogenic germs one can find in anybody's home," he said. Food can carry organisms like shigella, listeria, E. coli, salmonella and hepatitis A. The sponge picks up germs and smears them on whatever it wipes.

"Multitasking with a sponge" makes it worse: You wipe up that spill, then clean the table, the appliances, your daughter's face, he said, inoculating the child with the organism and resulting in diarrhea, nausea, vomiting or even worse. Those who are very young, very old or immune-system suppressed face greatest risk of serious consequences.

To avoid all that, you immerse the sponge for a minute or so in a solution of an ounce bleach and a quart of water, each time it's used and certainly between tasks.

Brennand suggests always drying your hands with paper towel to avoid cross-contamination.

Dishes should air dry, but if you have to dry them, use a fresh towel and only use it for that.

It's important to thoroughly wash fruits and vegetables that could be contaminated with something, which basically means all of them, Bossart and Brennand agree.

Turkey should be bathed in cold water to thaw it out or thawed in the fridge. Meat should never be left out to thaw and must be cooked adequately..
Cold food should be below 41 degrees, while warm food is safe above 135 degrees. It should not be left out more than two hours outside that temperature range, or pathogens can grow.

"Be scrupulous about dividing leftovers into small portions and sticking it into the refrigerator after a meal," Brennand said. It takes too long to chill big amounts.

Tierno found three-fourths of Americans disinfect their kitchen wastebaskets once a month or less. Folks think, he said, if they use a plastic liner, they don't have to worry about it. They're wrong. Small amounts of contaminated liquid can leech into the bottom of the can, which then touches the outside of the garbage bag. Most people pull the bag out and may even put it on the countertop or a chair to tie it. It should be tied off in the wastebasket and carried straight to the garbage can outside. The wastebasket should be sprayed with a disinfectant. If it's damp, the bleach and water should be used.

If the food-safety precautions aren't enough, Tierno said that most people don't empty their vacuum and it can spread illness. He tells of a family where the mother had vacuumed a spill from the kitchen. Each time she used the vacuum, "it caused gastroenteritis in the family, which inhaled salmonella" from the kitchen spill. Most new vacuums have a HEPA filter that takes care of that.

"A little bit of caution and common sense about things can go a long way in cutting down unnecessary illness," Tierno said.

E-mail: lois@desnews.com