Sunday's news about a Richmond food distributor recalling a whole host of popular food items sold at stores including Trader Joe's and Walgreen's has Bay Area consumers nervously checking salad and sandwich wrap labels.
While it's scary to think about an invisible poison lurking inside your lunch, it might help to know that most E. coli infections can be prevented three ways: thoroughly cooking meat, avoiding raw milk and, probably most importantly, careful hand washing.
Here are some tips posted online by health officials:
- Cook all meat thoroughly. Because ground beef can turn brown before disease-causing bacteria are killed, use a digital instant-read meat thermometer to ensure thorough cooking. Ground beef should be cooked until a thermometer reads at least 160°F. Be sure to insert the thermometer into several different parts of the patty, including the thickest part. To reduce the risk of illness without using a thermometer, do not eat ground beef patties that are still pink in the middle. If you get an undercooked hamburger or other ground beef product in a restaurant, send it back for further cooking. Make sure you get a new bun and a clean plate, too.
- Treat game meat (for example, venison) with the same care used for store-bought meat.
- Keep harmful bacteria out of your kitchen. Keep raw meat separate from ready-to-eat foods. Wash hands, counters, and utensils with hot soapy water after they touch raw meat. Never place cooked meat on the unwashed plate that held raw meat. Wash meat thermometers between testing of patties. Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly, especially those that will not be cooked.
- Drink only pasteurized milk, juice, and cider. Commercial juice with an extended shelf life sold at room temperature (juice in cardboard boxes, vacuum-sealed juice in glass containers, for example) has been pasteurized, although this is generally not shown on the label. Concentrated juices are also heated enough to kill bacteria.
- Don't eat sprouts. Alfalfa, clover, and other kinds of uncooked sprouts are well-recognized potential sources for this and similar bacteria.
- Don't drink water from rivers or streams, unless it has been treated.
- Avoid swallowing lake or pool water while swimming. Don't let small children go into public swimming areas.
To reduce the risk of spreading infection, wash your hands carefully with soap and water after:
- changing diapers,
- handling meat.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Sunday that many of Glass Onion Catering products that were produced between Sept. 23 and Nov. 6 and made with fully-cooked chicken and ham were possibly contaminated with a strain of E. coli. The products were distributed to retail locations in California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington.
Some of the products that were sold at Trader Joe's locations include the grocer's "Field Fresh Chopped Salad with Grill Chicken" and "Mexicali Salad with Chili Lime Chicken." Trader Joe's posted on its website Sunday that the supplier of some of their salads alerted the grocery store there was a possibility of E. coli in specified regions. Trader Joe's told customers full refunds were available for the salads with use-by dates between Oct. 1 and Nov. 15.
Other items made at the same Richmond facility under the label Atherstone Food, Inc. that were sold at Walgreens include Delish Greek Style Orzo Salad, Delish Asian Style Noodle Salad, and Delish Vegetarian Wrap. At Whole Foods the Southwestern and Wheat Berry salad kits have been recalled. A list of all 16 products being recalled is available at www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls.
— Bay City News Service contributed to this report.
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