Cook Your Mother’s Day Cookies!
Of course raw cookie dough isn’t as sweet as Mom—but it might be a close second! As you bake up a batch of Mother’s Day cookies, or help Mom with her famous family recipe, keep this information in mind to keep yourself and your mom safe.
Cracking the Cookie Dough Case
May 2009, we learned about a number of people who became sick from E. coli O157, a germ that can cause stomach cramps, diarrhea, vomiting, and can even be life-threatening.
CDC and state and local health departments began to investigate. We originally suspected ground beef was making people sick. It is one of the “usual suspects” for E. coli O157, along with leafy greens and sprouts. But as we learned about more and more people who were infected with the same specific strain of E. coli O157, we noticed that they were generally young and female, which isn’t what we normally see in outbreaks linked to ground beef.
Our disease detectives asked the people who were affected by this outbreak many questions and had them talk about everything that they had eaten and done the week before they became sick, looking for things in common among them. The mother of a sick child mentioned that he had eaten raw, prepackaged cookie dough during the days before he became sick. Another person who had been ill told us she ate ice cream with cookie dough and brownie mix-ins at an ice cream shop (and, later, that she had also eaten raw, prepackaged cookie dough at home). Then another person mentioned eating raw cookie dough, and another.
When cookie dough was mentioned on a conference call between investigators from CDC and health departments in affected states, investigators in several states mentioned that an ill person in their state also reported eating raw cookie dough. It was a “Eureka” moment! Further investigation strengthened the link between eating raw prepackaged, cookie dough and becoming ill. As a result of the investigation, the company recalled the product.
Resist Temptation: Don’t Lick that Spoon!
As gooey and delicious as it might look, eating raw cookie dough could make you very sick. When handling raw cookie dough, keep these safety tips in mind:
- Do not eat any raw cookie dough or any other raw dough product that’s supposed to be cooked or baked.
- Follow package directions for cooking at proper temperatures and for specified times.
- Wash hands, work surfaces, and utensils thoroughly after contact with raw dough products.
- Keep raw foods separate from other foods while preparing them to prevent any contamination that might be present from spreading.
- Follow label directions to chill products promptly after purchase and after using them.
For more information, check out these resources:
- E. coli
- Consumer Advisory: FDA Continues to Warn Against Eating Raw Dough for Cookies or Other Raw Dough Products before Cooking
- E. coli Outbreak and Raw Cookie Dough [PODCAST]
- Animal Planet: Killer Outbreaks: E. coli O157 [VIDEO]
- More about the outbreak [BLOG]:
New Bad Bug Book Now Online
Due to mass media coverage involving outbreaks, many people know that Salmonella and E. coli cause food poisoning. But do you know anything about Yersinia?
If you would like to know about it, along with other bacteria, viruses, parasites and natural toxins that can contaminate food and cause illness, the second edition of the Bad Bug Book (BBB) can be found at www.fda.gov/badbugbook.
The new book provides current information for both the general public and health professionals about the major known agents that cause food borne illness in the U.S. The book includes information about living and non-living organisms such as: bacteria, protozoa, worms, fungi, viruses, prions, and natural toxins.
For the General Public
The new book features a consumer snapshot for each agent with an explanation of symptoms of the illness it causes, as well as the types of foods it is associated with. Also included is information on safe food-handling practices that help prevent each agent from causing food poisoning. Another new feature is a special consumer glossary of terms used in talking about the causes and prevention of foodborne illness.
For Professionals
Each agent’s characteristics, habitats and food sources are included, along with infective doses, and general disease symptoms and complications. How much illness each agent causes in the U.S. and the populations most susceptible to each agent are also covered. There is an overview of the analytical methods used to detect, isolate, and/or identify the various agents.
So what about Yersinia?
According to the book, foods that have been linked to illness from Yersinia are pork (including chitterlings, sometimes called “chitlins”), unpasteurized milk, and oysters. Anyone can get yersiniosis, the illness Yersinia causes, but young children get it most often. The symptoms usually start within 1 day to 2 weeks and include high fever and stomach pain with diarrhea and sometimes vomiting.
Besides young children, people who are elderly, have poor health, a weak immune system, or take medications that weaken the immune system are at highest risk. Some people get arthritis-like symptoms, such as joint pain and rashes (which often go away in a month or several months), or other, more serious complications that may affect the heart.
Most mild cases of yersiniosis go away by themselves, but health professionals can prescribe antibiotics to treat it if necessary.
Prevention
To help protect against yersiniosis:
- Wash hands before and after handling food for 20 seconds with soap and water
- Wash food-contact surfaces and utensils after each use
- Wash raw fruits and vegetables
- Cook food to a safe temperature—for pork that is 165°F with a 3-minute rest time, and for oysters the shells should open during cooking
- Keep cooked food from contacting raw food
- Keep food refrigerated at 40ºF or lower
- Use only pasteurized milk and products made from pasteurized milk, not raw milk
Spring Celebrations: Handling Leftovers
By Diane Van, USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service
Now that we have served that delicious ham and brisket and hunted for our hard-cooked Easter eggs, callers to USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline have questions about the storage of these leftovers. Here are some answers based on questions our Hotline food safety specialists have reviewed from callers.
How long can I keep a leftover cooked ham in the refrigerator?
Many people believe that because most hams are cured that they can be stored longer than fresh meat. However, leftover cooked ham should be used within 3-4 days or frozen. To determine how long different types of ham can be stored safely in the refrigerator and freezer, see the Ham Storage Chart.
How long can I keep leftover cooked brisket in the refrigerator?
Store cooked brisket in the refrigerator (40 °F or below) and use within 3 to 4 days. Cooked brisket can be frozen for 2 to 3 months for best quality. After that time, it will still be safe, but can lose flavor and moisture. For more information on the safe preparation and handling of beef, check out Beef...from Farm to Table. For more information about cooking, reheating and storing brisket visit the blog post: Spring Traditions: Serving Brisket Safely
What is the best way to safely handle eggs used for an Easter egg hunt?
The "found" Easter eggs must be washed, re-refrigerated and eaten within 7 days of cooking. We do not recommend using hard-cooked eggs that have been lying on the ground, because they can pick up bacteria, especially if the shells are cracked. If the shells crack, bacteria can contaminate the inside. Eggs should be hidden in places that are protected from dirt, moisture, pets, and other sources of bacteria. The total time for hiding and hunting eggs should not exceed 2 hours or 1 hour if the air temperature outside is above 90°F.
To see videos on how to handle ham, brisket and eggs safely visit:
FSIS website for videos about ham, brisket and egg safety
If you have other food safety questions feel free to contact us at the Hotline (1-888-674-6854 toll-free) or online at AskKaren.gov