Food Safety
Food safety is as critical to any good preparedness plan as food storage and it's usage.
Please Note - Food Safety should be considered linked directly to our Gardening Page on this website. The reason is simple - our food producers continue to use pesticides and other harmful products to bring food to the table. Consumer Reports and others show that Organic produce typically reduces or eliminates many of those pesticides. We may have the opportunity to take matters into our own hands by growing some of our own food in our gardens.
Self reliance wins again!
Food Safety has its own government website - it is Foodsafety.gov
The amount of information available on this site is amazing - I would encourage everyone to take just a few minutes and explore this site. There is how-to information and why things should be done a certain way regarding food preparation and service. This site also contains information about the specific bacteria and viruses associated with food borne illnesses as well as symptoms and what steps to take.
Here is a quote from the US Food and Drug Administration -
Foodborne illness, also called food poisoning, is a serious national public health problem. Each year it causes an estimated 48 million people to get sick, 128,000 to be hospitalized, and 3,000 to die. For most people sickened by foodborne illness it is unpleasant and uncomfortable but not serious. For those who are hospitalized, however, it is a calamity, causing suffering for victims and worry for their families and friends. What perhaps makes it worse — especially when chronic illness or death is the result — is the sad fact that so much foodborne illness is preventable by taking simple everyday food safety steps.
We personally believe very highly in home production and storage to include home canning. Here is some information posted on Healthycanning.com that may be helpful if you want some guidance on home canning
The USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning is considered the Bible of home canning. It has been called “the most widely recognized source of validated processes for home food canning.” [1]
It’s currently maintained by staff at the National Center for Home Food Preservation in Georgia.
When it comes to home canning, there are no good "shortcuts". If someone is interested in home canning, it is advisable to take a class to help understand the different types of home canning. A couple of the methods include water bath canning and pressure canning. The PH level of the food to be canned is significant to understand. More acidic foods may be able to be canned using a water bath method while lower acidic foods require canning under pressure for a significant amount of time and pressure. The safety steps required are CRITICAL. Botulism can be one of those things associated with poor canning techniques. It is always recommended to follow specific certified recipes and not just make up your own to aid in the safe canning process. - Now that I am past the scary part, home preservation has always been and continues to be a great way to buy (or grow) larger quantities of food and preserve them for future use.
WHERE TO GET THE USDA COMPLETE GUIDE TO HOME CANNING
You can get a chapter by chapter PDF download version of it on the NCHFP site or a USDA Complete Canning Guide 2015. Merged PDF (merged Feb 2016.) HealthyCanning did the merge of the separate PDFs into one PDF for your convenience for use on tablet reading devices, etc. You have our word that we made no alterations at all in the merge.
According to healthycanning.com - You may not want to buy hard copies of it on Amazon. Hard copies sold there have been known to omit important advice. The current authorized hard copy seller is Purdue University Extension.
Dented cans purchased at the store - Are they safe? - Here is what the USDA says about that.
According to the USDA, "food from cans with small dents that are otherwise in good condition is safe to eat. However, you should throw away cans with deep dents, as these dents can have sharp points that can damage the seam and allow bacteria to enter the can. You should also throw away cans with dents on the rims, as even tiny dents should be discarded." The biggest concern here is botulism. Botulism is bad news and often a killer for us humans, that is of course you want a Dr to inject it into your face to eliminate wrinkles. What have we become?
Bottom line - toss out any dented cans that have dents on either end seam or perhaps one in the middle if your can has a seam in the side.
I recently received some information and a link to an organization dedicated to Food Safety - There is a wealth of information on their website - Keepfoodsafe.org - Sharon Lynx is the Outreach Director for Keepfoodsafe.org. They provide a resource for those affected by food borne illness. I don't believe they are not a non profit organization but certainly may provide good counseling and direction for those who may need their services and is certainly worth checking out as needed.
The website is fantastic in the information it provides and should be considered by anyone interested in food safety whether personally (family) or professionally.
Don't forget other "day to day" food safety concerns - The "Danger Zone" (40 °F-140 °F)Bacteria grow most rapidly in the range of temperatures between 40 ° and 140 °F, doubling in number in as little as 20 minutes.
Another important aspect of food safety is cross contamination. Be certain to maintain a clean workplace and utensils. Always watch out when you touch raw meat and then ANY other surface. If this occurs, both areas should be cleaned as soon as possible.
FYI - The USDA sends out a "Recall" notification in your email inbox if you subscribe. Unfortunately there are so many recalls that they have to send a WEEKLY notification. Just sign up on their website at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls - Also consider producing whatever you possibly can through home production like gardening - yes it takes effort, but having "clean" produce is well worth it.
In 2023 - over 4 Million pounds of food was recalled - and that is just what was caught.