Food Safety - Meat, Poultry, and Eggs; Simple Solutions

Meat

Most meat sold in the U.S come from cattle (beef), calves (veal), hogs (ham, pork and bacon), sheep (mutton), and young sheep (lamb). Meat and meat products are available in several forms such as fresh, frozen, cured, smoked, dried and canned. The greatest source of contamination for meat comes from their feeds. Farmers want to feed their animals cheap and growth stimulating chemicals which are likely to leave residue in the animal. Commercial feeds that animals feed on may contain  growth hormones like I mentioned earlier, coloring agents, fungicides and pesticides, drugs and medicines to treat diseases, and flavoring agents to make the feed more appealing to animals. 

Safe Mom Solutions:

Statistically diets heavy in meat and animal fats have been associated with higher incidences of heart disease, colon cancer, stroke and other degenerative diseases, hence your best bet is to go organic...seriously, if you really want to stay fat-free, chemical-free, pesticide-free, etc.

Other Solutions:

• Since raw meats are potentially hazardous foods, never buy them if there is any sign of contamination, temperature abuse, or spoilage
• Fresh meat should be firm and elastic to touch and have characteristic aromas. Off odors are frequently indicators of spoilage.
• Avoid liver, sweet breads, and other organ meats, which contain the greatest concentration of toxins

Poultry

Common examples are chicken, turkey, duck and geese. Go for the grade A poultry, which means, they have good overall shape and appearance, meaty, practically free of defects, and have well-developed layer of fat in the skin.

Poultry products support the grwoth if disease-causing and spoilage microorganisms. The intestinal tract and skin of poultry may contain a variety of foodborne disease bacteria, including Salmonella spp. Spoilage is indicated by soft, slimy, objectionable odor, stickiness under the wings and discoloration.

Safe Mom Solutions:

Again, go organic!

Other Solutions:

• Check out your local food store for fresh frozen poultry
• Make sure poultry is packaged on a bed of ice that drains away from the meat as it melts
• Do not buy if there you have the slightest inclination that there might be a problem

Eggs

Approximately 50billion eggs are sold in the U.S every year, so its a big deal. Salmonella enteritidis bacteria are present in about 1% (approximately 500million or one in 20,000) of the eggs sold. The bacteria enters the yolk of the egg as it is formed inside the hen. The eggshell surface may contain Salmonella spp. bacteria, especially if the egg shell is soiled with chicken droppings. 

Safe Mom Solutions:

• Raw shell eggs should be clean, fresh, free of cracjs or checks, and refrigerated at an ambient temperature of 45 degrees farenheit.
• Eggs when opened should have no noticeable odor, a firm yolk,  and the white should cling to the yolk
• If buying a packaged egg product, egg container should carry labels that verify that the contents have been pasteurized, and must be kept at 41 degrees farenheit.

I hope that you find this information useful. Again, head on to our featured post to enter our current giveaway. Hope to see you here tomorrow for more tips on Food Safety!!!