This past weekend, Reuters reported the death of an elder woman in Minnesota due to Salmonella infection. She is the seventh person in the U.S. to die from this bacteria. As of last Wednesday, 491 people have been infected during the current outbreak. And, 125 products have been recalled by the FDA, including cookies, crackers, ice cream and even some pet foods.
Below are some ways to avoid possible infection:
- Washing your hands and kitchen surfaces before working with any food may seem obvious, but many people forget.
- Wash your hands and counter tops or cutting boards in between working with vegetables and raw meats to avoid cross-contamination.
- Antibacterial soap or simple soap and water work well.
- Use fresh, clean dish towels and change often.
- Thoroughly wash all fruit, even if you are not going to eat the skin.
- Any fruit that might touch the ground, such as tomatoes, is susceptible to Salmonella. So, spend even more time scrubbing these fruits.
- Cut off any vines or parts that were attached to the plant. When eating tomatoes, make sure to cut off and discard the hard nib on the top of the fruit, because the bacteria can implant itself there easily.
- Take off the outer leaves of cabbage and lettuce, and the outer skin of onions.
- When baking, make sure to thoroughly cook the baked foods before eating them. Salmonella usually comes from raw eggs. Do not eat raw cookie dough no matter how tempting it may be!
- Salmonella poisoning often occurs from poultry and raw eggs that haven't been properly cooked, or frozen and not properly cooked, or left sitting too long after being cooked.
- Got pets? Make sure after handling them you wash your hands.
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