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Dairy, Food and Environmental Sanitation
Abstracts - October, 2001
Oregon Food Preparers’ Awareness and
Use of the USDA Safe Handling Instructions Label on Meats and Poultry
The Emergence of Food Microbiology:
Its Origin in Dairy Microbiology
Oregon Food Preparers’
Awareness and Use of the USDA Safe Handling Instructions Label on Meats and
Poultry
Carolyn A. Raab* and Margy J. Woodburn
Oregon State University, Department of Nutrition and Food Management, Corvallis,
OR 97331-5103
SUMMARY
Eighteen months after introduction of the Safe
Handling Instructions label on raw meat and poultry, 100 food preparers (85%
female) were interviewed by phone to assess knowledge of label information and
reported practices related to recommendations. Eighty-three percent reported
having seen the label; 26% usually read it when cooking meat and poultry. More
women reported having seen than read the label. Recall of four major label
statements and icons was limited. Practices that prevent cross-contamination
were most frequently recalled (by 60% of those who had read the label). Thirty
percent reported changing practices because of label instructions; the
majority of the changes related to efforts to prevent cross-contamination. In
general, reported food handling practices reflected label recommendations to
keep raw food refrigerated or frozen (99%), to avoid cross-contamination (84%
washed hands with soap after handling raw meat or poultry), to cook thoroughly
(71% served hamburger well done), and to refrigerate (61% refrigerated
leftover meat or combination dishes immediately after the meal). Most of those
who had read the label considered it to be very clear and understandable.
Forty-five percent identified food labels as a preferred way of getting food
safety information. Continued review of consumer use of care labels is urged.
This is the first of a two-part series. Part 2
will appear in the November issue of DFES.
The Emergence of Food
Microbiology: Its Origin in Dairy Microbiology
Elmer H. Marth
Department of Food Science and The Food Research Institute, University of
Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706
SUMMARY
Late in the 19th and early in the 20th century,
consumption of raw milk was often associated with typhoid fever, diphtheria,
scarlet fever, septic sore throat, undulant fever, and tuberculosis.
Microbiologists of that time strove to improve the situation. In time they
succeeded and in doing so gave rise to the discipline of dairy bacteriology.
Dairy microbiologists, through teaching and research, improved both the safety
and quality of milk and products made from milk. In time, the expertise of
dairy microbiologists was sought to solve problems in other segments of the
food industry, and the broader field of food microbiology was born. Dairy
microbiologists, through teaching and research, served to characterize and
control spoilage of dairy foods, provide the consumer with an array of
fermented and unfermented dairy foods, and assure the safety of such foods.
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