By Jason Masters

     Environmental Health Director

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Q: Dear Jason, my boyfriend insists upon grabbing raw hamburger and chicken with his bare hands before throwing it on the grill, and then wiping his hands on his pants or shirt before moving on to prepare salads. I have begged him to wash his hands in between. He says it’s no big deal, I say he’s crazy. Please help us settle this argument.
-Cindy

A: Wow. I hope your boyfriend doesn’t work at a restaurant, Cindy. (If he does, you can let me know where in a separate email…*wink*)This reminds me of “The Curious Case of Sam and Ella’s Chicken Shack”* (see what I did there?). After receiving several complaints of bare hand contact with ready-to-eat food (which incidentally is the #1 thing that grosses me out, and is the subject of an entire forthcoming article) at this establishment, we made a few site visits and determined that several employees were, in fact, handling food with bare hands. After speaking to Chef Nora Firus*, it was discovered that employees had never been informed about the dangers of handling food with bare hands.  To really understand why this is so important, we have to know a little about the microbiology of the organisms we mainly deal with when handling foods:

–Norovirus-Commonly called stomach flu, or viral gastroenteritis, norovirus is the leading cause of vomiting and diarrhea in the United States. It is commonly spread by infected food service workers who touch ready-to-eat foods, or cleaned utensils. You can become infected with norovirus by getting feces or vomit from an infected person in your mouth…think about that for a second. We are talking about the leading cause of gastroenteritis in the U.S., and one of the major transmission routes is fecal-oral… Watch what foods go into your mouth, and WASH. YOUR. HANDS, KIDS. And if you happen to work at a food service establishment, if you think you have norovirus, go to the doctor, and DON’T GO TO WORK!

–Salmonella-One of the most prolific bacteria strains in existence. Salmonella is currently the leading cause of food borne illness in the United States. Salmonella is found mainly on chicken, but can also be found on other raw meats. It can be killed by proper cooking, and salmonellosis can be prevented by washing hands before and after handling raw foods, and keeping utensils clean and separated.

–Escherichia Coli O157:H7-Commonly known as E. Coli, this bacteria produces a toxin called Shiga toxin. A common complication with E. Coli is Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (try saying that three times fast). The toxin can destroy red blood cells, and cause injury to the kidneys. E. Coli exists naturally in the gut of warm blooded animals (including you!) and can be spread from the feces of infected people and animals (that whole handwashing thing should be starting to make sense now, huh?) An E. Coli infection can be prevented by properly washing hands, and by avoiding the consumption of undercooked GROUND beef (sorry Pierre, no tartare today) but it is important to note that bacteria cannot live in whole muscle, so that delicious medium-rare ribeye is perfectly safe.
This is only a small list of bacteria and viruses that cause food borne illnesses. A simple google search will turn up many, many results, so make sure to get your information from a reputable source. (FDA, USDA, CDC, etc).
Back to our bare-handing friends at Sam and Ella’s… Per the NC food code manual, it is required that food employees do not touch ready-to-eat foods with bare hands. Hand washing alone does not remove enough of the bacteria and viruses from your hands to allow bare hand contact with ready to eat food products. Gloves are acceptable (as long as they are used correctly), and utensils can be used so long as they do not contribute to possible contamination, (this means you can’t grab cooked chicken off the grill with the same pair of tongs you used to pull it out of the marinade of Italian dressing…yes, that’s all it is…). Employees are further required to wash their hands before donning gloves, and when switching tasks. This means you can’t go from making sandwiches to taking out the trash, to grabbing the fryer baskets, to sweeping up the spilled chips from some snotty-nosed kid, and back to making sandwiches with the same gloves. It is required of a food establishment to inform employees of their responsibility to relate information about their health and activities, as they relate to diseases that are transmissible through food, to a person in charge (PIC). It is then the duty of the PIC to reduce the likelihood of foodborne illness transmission through asking for more information, watching for symptoms of illness (vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, etc), or more commonly, restricting or excluding the employee from work.  So, what should you do if you are at a restaurant and see a food service worker handling food with bare hands?

1. Don’t eat the food! It is ultimately your decision as to what you put in your own body. Hopefully you can make an informed decision about where you eat using the sanitation rating that should be hanging in your favorite restaurant. (We will talk more about sanitation ratings in another issue…) If you don’t see a sanitation rating hanging in plain view, you might want to ask yourself, “why?” This should be a good indication of the practices of this food establishment.

2. Ask to speak to a manager or person in charge. Explain to them what you have seen and why you are deciding not to eat the food they are serving. It is a manager’s job to make sure that the food that is being served at their restaurant is not only delicious, but also safe.

3. Submit a complaint to the food and lodging division of the environmental health department. It can be anonymous. It is our job to speak to people about food safety. We do it every day.

So, to answer your question, Cindy, you are correct…your boyfriend is crazy. Hand washing is the single most effective way to prevent the spread of infections.

And remember, most of these illness won’t kill you… but they might make you wish you were dead…

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent*

By Jason Masters

     Environmental Health Director

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Q: Dear Jason,
Hey Jason, I have a question about snow. I know you are not a meteorologist or anything, but can you tell me if it is safe to eat snow? I have a 4-year-old grandson, and he won’t stop shoveling snow in his mouth! Should I be worried?
-Carol

Well, Carol, that’s a great question, and one I’m glad you brought up at such a special time of the year. You know, when I was growing up, I remember standing with my brothers at the front window of our house, all of us jumping up and down, pointing at the snow, and yelling for my mom to open the door so we could go out there in it. She would help us get on our snow suits, and send us out, watching us run around, trying to catch falling snow on our tongues. Sometimes we would bring in big bowlfuls of snow and she would help us make snow cream. It was a family tradition for all of us kids (and usually the grown-ups, too!) to run outside on New Year’s Day, grab big handfuls of snow, and eat till we couldn’t eat anymore. The layer of clean, pure white snow would blanket our whole house and yard, and I remember how the barely visible red bows on the fence posts would cast a slight reddish-pink contrast on the crisp shell of the snow. After our hands were freezing and wet, we would go warm up by the fire that my dad built before he left for work, and have mugs of hot chocolate, and my mom would explain to us that the snow signified a blank canvas for the coming year…one we could fill with experiences and memories and whatever else we wanted, and by eating it on New Year’s Day, we were opening ourselves up to whatever possibility may present itself in the coming year. It was a wonderful tradition, and one my family carries on today.

But, to answer your question, we need to know a little bit about why eating snow might be dangerous to our health. *SPOILER ALERT*-it’s not the snow you need to be worried about…If you are familiar with my articles, you already know about hot and cold holding, why it’s important, and keeping food for appropriate times, and discarding food after a certain length of time, but if this is your first time, here it is in a nutshell…to be safe, foods must be maintained at 135 degrees F or above, or if they are maintained at 41 degrees F or below, they may be held for 7 days. After this time, however, they should be discarded. Now, with all that being said, why should we discard these foods after this amount of time, and what in the world does this have to do with eating snow?!?

Well first, let’s take a look at the most obvious reasons that eating snow off the ground might be dangerous. Got any dogs in your neighborhood? Dogs don’t usually use a public restroom, and rarely (if ever) stop to let you know that nature is calling. Let’s think of some other things that might be on the ground…dirt, rocks, lead paint chips… What if the snow is on top of a failing septic system? What if the snow is on the road that DOT just sprayed with salt solution and sand? What if Uncle Adam was just out smoking a cigarette, and dropped his cigarette butt and ashes right there? (Have you ever accidentally picked up a drink that someone used as an ashtray? I have…its gross…especially when that cigarette butt plinks off your teeth…ugh) Would you eat a cheeseburger that fell on the ground? (and don’t give me any of that “5 second rule” stuff…) If the answer is “no”, then why in the world would you think it would be OK to eat snow off that same ground?!? Ok…I think you get the point here.

Let’s talk for a minute about psychrophilic bacteria. Psychrophilic bacteria are cold-loving organisms that thrive in temperatures ranging from around 32 to 77 degrees F. Remember when I told you to throw food away after 7 days at 41 degrees F or below? Well this is why. Meet Listeria monocytogenes. This guy loves to hang around in your fridge and make you sick, especially if your foods are not maintained at safe temperatures. And guess what? Listeria loves the same foods you do! Deli meats! Hot Dogs! Soft cheeses! Sprouts! Cantaloupe! Seriously, who doesn’t love these foods?!? Now, Listeria is not the only psychrophile, but based on information about the growth phases of Listeria, the NC food code recommends discarding foods after 7 days. After that amount of time has passed, the amount of harmful bacteria on food can be enough to make someone sick. Listeria is especially happy to find a fridge that hasn’t been cleaned in a while…. You know that black stuff in the corners in the back?…Yeah, that’s gonna be a great spot for listeria to set up shop. This brings me back to the snow…temperatures have to be pretty low outside for snow to hang around. Listeria is widely found in the environment…It can live in soil, water, decaying vegetation (remember those leaves you told your significant other you were going to rake last fall, but then you got busy, ’cause, you know…life…and now they are just hanging out under all that beautiful snow, decaying and providing food for the grass that will be so lush in the spring…?) Sounds to me like conditions are just right for Listeria to start multiplying.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you shouldn’t build a snowman, or a snow angel, or an igloo, or make your neighbors take a snowball to the face. I’m just letting you know that if your kid (or grandkid) is dying to eat some snow, then do the little guy a favor, and get it from somewhere ABOVE THE GROUND! And maybe it’s time to let that winter-warmer recipe for your (in)famous sprout/cantaloupe salad with bologna chunks and a warm queso topping to go back in the drawer (or in the trash…)

Stay warm and enjoy winter, friends!

SNOW CREAM

1) Gather a big bowl of fresh, CLEAN snow. You will need a big bowl, and it will need to be nice and full.
2) Stir in one 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk. You may have to adjust amount according to how much snow you have.
3) Add a few teaspoons of vanilla extract. (Or go crazy and add some other flavor like orange!)
4. Mix up and add some toppings like sprinkles or chocolate syrup and enjoy!

By Jason Masters

     Environmental Health Director

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Q: Dear Jason,
I just have a question…Is it possible for a large group of people to get sick from one meal? I was recently at a holiday party with some “friends”, and a few days later, several of them got sick! We are not sure of the cause, but we suspect one individual as the source….

-G. Rinch

Hello! Well that’s a great question that frequently comes up around the holiday season. The chances of a large group of people getting sick from one meal is pretty high, especially around the holiday season, due to people not paying attention to proper cooking times, food storage issues, and generally being distracted by the events around them. In fact, this reminds me of a poem I once heard…I’ll try to recreate it here the best I can. Any similarity to other stories or poems is purely coincidental…

To be read in the voice and style of a large, hairy, green being that initially dislikes his neighbors and their penchant for the holiday season, but through a series of misadventures and a journey of self-discovery, comes to the realization that his lifelong loathing may have been slightly misplaced…

“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
Was the thing I was thinking as I took my last bite.
I had no idea I was in for such trouble,
When I heard Mindy Sue Whoo’s small tummy grumble.

“It’s a Christmas feast!” I thought to myself,
“Fit for a King!” (Or at least a large elf)
The biggest spread! Hours it lasted!
Complete with orange flavored effervescent antacid.

When I took the Whoo’s pudding, and I took their roast beast,
I couldn’t have imagined it would be such a feast!
I didn’t hot hold it or keep anything cold.
“Why would I?” I thought, “It’s just hours old!”

I rolled it all up on the living room rug,
And then stuffed it all up with the rodents and bugs.
No reason to think I did anything wrong,
when I put all their food on a sleigh with a dog.

You know the story, I brought it all back,
and I carved it and served it right out of the sack.
Each Whoo got a serving (including the dog)
Topped off with a cup of Great Gram’s raw egg nog

Two days later, a few Whoo’s got sick,
complaining and saying they couldn’t sing worth a lick.
They took some painkillers! They drank soda water!
They used cool rags, but their fevers got hotter!

It came without warning! Not any red flags!
But it DID come with retching, and bloating, and gags!

Yes, all The Whoos down in Whooville were walking among us,
With cases of E. Coli and salmonellosis.
Diarrhea! And fever! And abdominal cramping!
No sleep in the night, just occasional catnapping!

About 10 percent of the Whoo’s were sent home, diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome.
Red blood cells were damaged! Failure of the kidney!
Which is especially dangerous to young Whoo’s and the elderly…

About a week later, the Whoo’s felt much better,
Following textbook symptoms right down to the letter.

The moral of this story is just this my friends: keep your food safe from beginning to end.
Maintain hot temperatures if you plan to hot hold it,
One thirty five (135) is the number it must hit.
Forty one (41) or below for cold holding for later,
Use an ice bath or your Whoo-frigerator

Fully cook all your food, (roast beast included)
So you don’t get sick, like Mindy Sue Whoo did
Final cook temps are the things you must know
To reduce the microbial/bacterial load

Don’t put your roast beast under raw chicken juice
You may need a physician, (or one Dr. Seuss)
Storing food properly is the thing you must do
To avoid contamination, and adulteration too!

Fully wash your hands, small, large, or green.
Use soap and warm water, and scrub until clean.
In order to be safe this holiday season,
simply follow these rules, you all know the reason.

And one last thing before biding adieu,
Remember the story of G. Rinch and the Whoos…
Be kind to your family and neighbors alike,
Children are watching, even the tiniest tyke.

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

By Jason Masters

     Environmental Health Director

Thanksgiving!

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Q: Hey Jason, my family is coming in for thanksgiving this year and I want it to be extra special (it’s my first one with my new in-laws!) What are some ways to make sure that my feast is safe? How far ahead can I prepare my broccoli/cheese casserole? I have a small kitchen and I want to prepare as much as possible before the big day.

-Sarah

Happy Thanksgiving Sarah! Great questions for this time of year.  You know, at my house on Thanksgiving, we always have broccoli cheese casserole too! It’s a staple at any of our holiday meals, but Thanksgiving is celebrated in a variety of ways across this great country of ours, and with a variety of delicious dishes. For example, if you live in Nevada or Idaho, you may be enjoying some frog eye salad. Or, if you live in Ohio, dirt pudding may be on your plate right next to the mashed potatoes. Either way, with all the tongue tickling dishes being prepared around this holiday, food safety is especially important to keep in mind. Let’s go ahead and dig in… (pun intended…)

Let’s start at the beginning and talk about thawing. I’m assuming that you are having turkey for dinner. Turkey is usually the “guest of honor” at Thanksgiving, but any meat will do…after all, Thanksgiving is not about the food, it’s about the people you spend it with. The food is secondary. How big is this bird? How long did you let this turkey thaw? Did you just remember this morning to take it out of the freezer?  It’s going to take more than a few hours to thaw out that 16-pound bird, and you can’t just throw it in the fridge and expect it to happen before noon. Generally speaking, you should allow about 24 hours for every 4 pounds of bird. That 16-pound bird you’ve got there? That’s going to take about 4 days to completely thaw. Don’t make the mistake of watching The Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special and forgetting to put the bird in the fridge.

Now, if you are familiar at all with my Ask A Health Inspector articles, you will remember how I have gone on and on about knowing, and reaching, final cook temperatures for safety. No exception here. Turkey must get to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F to be safe. I don’t care if you roast it, bake it, broil it, boil it, fry it (my personal favorite), smoke it, grill it, whatever…It must reach 165 degrees F inside the thickest part. Oh! and if you are one of those people who like to cook the stuffing inside the cavity of your turkey, well, that must reach 165 too. Just sayin’.  If you only take one thing away from this article today, let it be this: TURKEY MUST REACH 165 DEGREES F INTERNALLY TO BE SAFE.

Alright, moving right along through this thanksgiving feast, let’s talk about make-ahead preparation. Let’s say you want to make that broccoli cheese casserole about a week before the big day and check that off your list. That’s fine. Just remember to properly cool your casserole before putting it in the fridge. The requirement for restaurants in North Carolina, (and in my kitchen) is moving from a temperature of 135 degrees F to 70 degrees F within 2 hours, and from 70 degrees to 45 degrees in the next 4 hours. That should be easily achievable in your home kitchen unless you are making 47 pounds of casserole. (I always ask my wife to make extra because I COULD eat 47 pounds of broccoli cheese casserole…Ok, ok, probably not more than 45 pounds, but who’s counting?) Just be sure not to put your piping hot casserole into the fridge to cool. It won’t cool safely, and if your guests are going to get sick, you want it to be from over-indulgence, (they can’t blame YOU for that one), not improperly cooked and cooled food. And remember, you can hold a cooked and cooled food in your refrigerator for 7 days if it is maintained at 41 degrees or below.

Alright, let’s move right into reheating that delicious casserole. According to the 2017 NC Food Code, foods must be reheated from 41 degrees F to 165 degrees F within 2 hours. Doesn’t matter if you use the stove or the microwave, it must get to 165. This should be easy to remember because your TURKEY MUST REACH 165 DEGREES F INTERNALLY TO BE SAFE. (I might have said that before in this article.) Its only one temperature to remember, people! 165 degrees F. Know it. Live it. Love it.

OK, OK. I get it. The real question you want to know is how long can I nap while the food is still on the counter? Great question. In restaurants, if a food is going to be held outside of temperature control (that is, 135 or above for hot holding, and 41 or below for cold holding) it is safe for 4 hours, but they must have written procedures in place, and a way to monitor that food. Now at home, of course, you don’t need written procedures, but you do need to remember that you put that sliced turkey on the platter at 1:00, and you have 4 hours to safely leave it there. (6 hours if you can manage to keep the house temperature below 70 degrees F, but good luck with that if you have the stove and oven going, football on TV, kids screaming, coffee brewing, Uncle Adam leaving the front door open, neighbors popping in and out, and the other neighbor’s dog barking…A better move is it shoot for no more than 4 hours.) Now, the kicker is that at the end of that 4-hour period, that turkey must be discarded.  A far better move is to properly cool and refrigerate or freeze any leftovers as soon as possible so you get to have my favorite breakfast sandwich the next day…that is bread+mayo+broccoli cheese casserole+cranberry+gravy+turkey+mashed potatoes+dressing+cheesecake+more gravy+chocolate chip pecan pie+mayo+bread. Now THAT’S a breakfast sandwich.

And while we’re at it, let’s go ahead and address some thoughts on “The Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special”:

1. Why does Charlie Brown keep trying to kick that football?
2. As a health inspector, I find it appalling that a dog and a bird are placed in charge of the kitchen. The risk of salmonella alone would be astronomical!
3. Why is Charlie Brown completely bald? (Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great look, but he’s a kid!) And Linus has a serious hair thinning problem…is there something in the water?
4. It’s no wonder Charlie Brown’s eyes look like that…look how close he sits to the TV! Does he need glasses? This should be addressed!
5. Why did everyone get invited to Charlie Brown’s grandmothers house except Snoopy, when Snoopy is the one who did all the work in the first place?
6. Isn’t it weird that Woodstock would eat turkey?
7. Where the heck are all the adults? The kids were going to have toast, popcorn, and jellybeans for thanksgiving, for Pete’s sake!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

By Jason Masters

     Environmental Health Director

Fairs and Festivals

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Q: Hello Jason, I’ve had a great summer and I love all the festivals in our area and throughout North Carolina! I’ve had a chance to try all kinds of foods that I wouldn’t normally  have an opportunity to eat, (like liver mush! Yum!) and they have been delicious! As the Mountain State Fair approaches, is there anything I should be worried about as far as food goes? And what about food trucks in places like the wonderful festivals I’ve attended this year?

Vendors at festivals and other events are required to obtain a temporary food establishment (TFE) permit from the environmental health department before serving food. Our department makes a visit to the vendor, usually on the day of the festival or event, and after a review of menu items and preparation processes, as well as a checklist of items relating to general food safety, we issue a permit.  It is important to note that no food is allowed to be prepared before the beginning of a festival. We won’t let Bubba use the same meat at this event that he patted out at last month’s  burger festival.  Now, here’s what you need to know…

There are no regulations relating to the people working at these TFEs. No one is required to be a certified food protection manager (like at restaurants) and  (usually) no one from our office does an inspection after a permit is issued (except in the case of a multi-day event, like the mountain state fair, where there is potential for things to go awry).

When we issue a permit to a TFE, we only make sure that sanitation tools are in place. We can’t guarantee that anybody uses them on a regular basis. Yes, we make sure they have gloves. Yes, we make sure they have a means to wash their hands. Yes, we make sure the food they are preparing to sell appears to be maintained properly and safely. But that doesn’t mean that Bubba over at the burger tent is wearing his beard restraint and washing those enormous mitts of his after grabbing the meat for a big ol’ double bubba.

Now Jason, does that mean that nothing is safe at festivals and fairs?

Of course not!

Keep in mind that most of the people that own these business make their living selling food. It is certainly not in their best interest to simply ignore basic hygiene and food safety. To help ease your mind, here are some things to look for before ordering that deep fried double bubba:

-All temporary food establishments are required to have a canopy or tent over the entire operation. If you see someone selling shrimp cocktail off the back of a tailgate, they are probably not permitted.

-All TFEs are required to have some sort of ground cover. Concrete, asphalt and even grass is OK. Don’t let Bubba wade through the mud to take your 15 dollars 

-All water must be from an approved source, and there must be a way to heat water on site.  Lake Lure and Lake James are not approved sources.

-A means to wash, rinse and sanitize utensils must be on site, as well as sanitizer, and sanitizer test strips. If you see Bubba throw down some raw meat on top of an Igloo cooler, you might want to consider going back for that grilled cheese sandwich at the Queso-Loco food truck.

-A handwashing station must be available with hot water under pressure. We will even allow a cooler with hot water inside, but the water must be able to flow freely. Also, the water has to be caught in a bucket or container of some kind. We don’t want Bubba to get his boots all muddy before he steps on the onions.

-Food must be stored where it can be secured against tampering, and off the ground. Don’t let Bubba “go around back” to grab some more “real special” meat for your order.

-Cold holding equipment and food thermometers must be available and in working order. Of course, that doesn’t mean they will use them, but they at least have to be there.

The best advice I can give you is to pay attention to the surroundings, pay attention to the people working, and make good choices relating to what you eat at fairs and festivals. As always, if you have issues, go to the doctor so they can verify that you have a foodborne illness, and be sure to report it to the Environmental Health Department. If the fair or festival is still in town, we may be able to address the situation immediately. If you wait too long, though, those vendors may disappear faster than a funnel cake in front of a four year old.

Well, what about food trucks?

Here is the quick and skinny on food trucks, or Mobile Food Units (MFUs) as we call them. (We will save the really good details of MFUs for another issue…) Basically, an MFU is inspected the same way a restaurant is. They are required to have a certified food protection manager on site (or lose two points), they are required to have employee health policies on site, and follow all the other rules and regulations that a restaurant is required to follow. In addition, they are required to have a commissary that they “partner” with to store supplies, cleaning equipment and other food items they may not have room for on their truck. A commissary can be a restaurant, or an establishment that meets all the necessary requirements for a commercial grade kitchen, and must be a permitted establishment, and inspected on a regular basis. An MFU is required to return to their sponsoring commissary at the end of each day of operation for cleaning, dumping, refilling, etc.

Ok then, what about pushcarts? Is it safe to eat a hot dog in this town?

Pushcarts operate in much the same way as a mobile food unit. They are required to work in conjunction with a permitted commissary, they must return to the commissary at the end of each day of operation, and they are required to provide a list of events or locations at which they will be setting up. The pushcart itself must be inspected to ensure that all components are smooth and easily cleanable, and NSF (or commercial grade) approved. They are only allowed to use single service items, like wax paper, and plastic utensils, and…here is the big thing…they can only prepare hot dogs on the cart. They can’t grill you a burger. They can’t mix you up a milkshake. They can’t toss you a fresh salad. They can sell/serve things that have been previously pre-portioned, pre-wrapped and prepared (how’s that for an alliteration?) in their commissary, but that’s it. If you see somebody selling freshly prepared ceviche at a pushcart, it would probably be best to keep on moving.

So, to sum it up, Patsy, there are lots of things to be worried about, but with a little observation and some good decisions, you should be able to rest assured that the only reason you are throwing up is the double order of chili cheese fries with extra jalapenos, and the poor timing of riding the Cyclops right after.

Enjoy the fair, friends!

By Jason Masters

     Environmental Health Director

Pork, Pot Luck & Pudding… Oh My!

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Q: Dear Jason,

Let me start by saying I did not grow up eating large amounts of pork and other ground sausage-like meats. Moreover, when I went off to college I became a vegetarian. The reason for my seeking your counsel is, I’ve recently had a couple of interesting experiences that make we wonder if pork and sausage consumption is an acquired skill.  First, I recently ate my first hot dog in 15 years and it was delicious! Unfortunately, I rapidly had explosive diarrhea.  Second, earlier this month I attended a potluck.  The tastiest dish was my neighbor’s home-made pork sausage, spicy Italian style. Well, periodically that night and until noon the next day let’s just say my pipework was a-rattilin’. Would these upsetting experiences abate if I became a regular hot dog and pork consumer?  That is, is it an acquired skill? Or did I draw two contaminated lots of meat?

                                                                                    -L.T.

A: Hello L.T.! I really hate to hear this, and I hope I can offer some guidance!

Let’s get right to it…

Well this is truly an interesting question. Not just because of the subject matter, but because it involves a few different aspects. First off, there is the biological approach…how do our bodies respond to certain stimuli, and is everyone’s body the same? Second, there is the epidemiological approach… how many people were at the party? How many fellow party-goers ate the exact same things you did, at the exact same time? Is there a timeline that can be created? And finally, there is the environmental health approach…were the products tainted before ingestion? How likely is it that some form of time or temperature abuse took place during/after food preparation? What role, if any, did personal hygiene play in the production/preparation of the food itself? That is, bare hand contact with ready -to-eat food, hand washing, etc, and were any other risk factors associated with food borne illnesses compromised? (Holding, cooking, cooling, approved sources)

Let’s start with the biological approach. A vegetarian that has stayed true for several years may, in fact, experience some symptoms similar to the ones you have described because the enzymes in the human gut that help digest meat have been asleep for the past 15 years! It’s pretty common for vegetarians (or regular carnivores that abruptly switch to a vegetarian or vegan diet) to experience some form of nausea while adjusting to a new diet. Is everyone who makes the switch going to experience the same thing? No way! As is true in most life experiences, every body is different, just as everybody is different.

Next, let’s take a look at the epidemiological view. Did other people at the party or other members of the cookout become ill after ingesting the same foods at the same time? I’m going to go ahead and assume that if you were invited to a party, you probably know more than one or two people there and, inevitably, the subject of gastrointestinal distress would have come up in casual conversation subsequent to the party…surely that doesn’t only happen me…right?

Finally let’s talk about the environmental health approach. Of, course, this is the one I’m most concerned with. Now, here in the environmental health world, we like to know as much as possible about things before we start talking about them. For example, did you know that sausages are also known as frankfurters, wieners, and our beloved hot dogs? They differ slightly with seasoning, length, and method of preparation, but they almost always share the similar characteristics of being cured, sometimes smoked, and presented in an edible casing. The term frankfurter is a derivative of Frankfurt, a major metropolis in Germany. The term wiener comes from Vienna, a city in Austria. So, back to the subject… There is always the potential for the number one thing that grosses me out, bare hand contact with ready to eat food. It is almost impossible to determine how many times people handle their wieners, frankfurters and sausages with bare hands. In addition, temperature abuse is a common theme associated with potluck parties. People love to bring potato salad, slaw, and big plates of hot dogs and hamburgers and set them on a table covered with a cute plastic tablecloth with Yogi the bear running away from the ranger, and then leave them for hours and hours while they go gossip about the neighbors. It happens all the time, every summer. To sum it up, we would need some additional information before we could make an accurate determination about what caused your foodborne related illness. I hope that this event doesn’t cause you to discount hot dogs forever.