Monthly Archives: September 2020

September is Food Safety Education Month!

Posted by Makenzie Wozniak  –  Education, Food Safety, General, Safety & Personnel
September 28, 2020

September is Food Safety Education Month! According to the FDA, the importance of food safety is learning and educating others on taking an active role in preventing foodborne illnesses. Every year an estimated 1 in 6 Americans (or 48 million people) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die from eating contaminated food. Below are some tips, provided by the CDC, that you can take advantage of at home to keep you and your family safe from these illnesses.

• Clean: Wash your hands, utensils, and surfaces. This step is important to do before, during, and after cooking to help prevent cross-contamination of harmful bacteria.

• Separate: Make sure to separate your raw meats from your produce to prevent cross-contamination as well. Raw meats normally carry many different pathogens such as salmonella, E.coli, listeria monocytogenes, etc. Like you and I, many animals naturally carry bacteria in their bodies when alive, so after an animal is slaughtered, the bacteria within their intestines can easily be converted onto the meat itself.

• Cook: Use a food thermometer to ensure the food you are preparing is being cooked to the correct temperature, this is to ensure that all germs are being killed before consumption.

• Chill: Bacteria can multiply quickly within perishable foods if they are being stored in room temperature, so it is important to refrigerate perishable foods within two hours after use.

Another tidbit that I wanted to touch on that I think is relevant for many families, is how to keep your bagged lunches safe from these illnesses as well. I know from personal experience, during my morning commute to work, it can be hard to keep my bagged lunch, cold. A helpful tip to get around this dilemma is to include at least two cold sources to keep the food chilled while it is not being refrigerated. Whether it’s an ice pack, or a frozen water bottle, place one source on top of the food, and one on the bottom to ensure your food is the same temperature throughout. Once at work, place your food in the refrigerator/freezer. If food is in an insulated lunchbox, unzip the top and leave the lid open. This will chill your food faster versus the lunchbox being closed.

At Nelson-Jameson, we take food safety very seriously, and value our role in the food supply chain—providing food processing facilities with the products and services they need to produce safe, quality food. For more information on Nelson-Jameson’s role in the food supply chain, click here.

 

Sources:

Fong, Fiona. “Bacteria in Raw Meat vs. Cooked Meat.” Bacteria in Raw Meat vs Cooked Meat, 1 Sept. 2017,
www.cfs.gov.hk/english/multimedia/multimedia_pub/multimedia_pub_fsf_130_02.html.

“Food Safety Education Month.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25 Aug. 2020, www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/education-month.html.

Keeping “Bag” Lunches Safe, United States Department of Agriculture, 16 Aug. 2016, www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/safe-food-handling/keeping-bag-lunches-safe/ct_index/!ut/p/a1/jVHRTsIwFP2aPXYtDAn4tiwxgDIkRCl7Id121zaMdmk7UL_eMnxQA0rvS3vuOTm95-IMU5wpdpCcOakVq0_vbLglSzLsjRMyW4x7D2Savi4Xj0lCRqs7T9j8QUijG_VXTkz-089uMOibeTLnOGuYE0iqSmPKwSGm7BGMxbTSukSWVeDeUcUKh6w
AcL5xwlDXFUyVtVQc0x1A4y8oZxzVrSoE2E6LaeG2UpXwhtc4-_kr0vM1TaPVYDJLI7IY_CZciO1MuJ6LH5zXOu92tIlVHo38hAYqMGDC1nhYONfY-4AE5CiLozY7G1bKhq0tWcj1ISAGrG5NATYgfV9IfW0dfQ8EyrbocLTXyolLbkJbh-lFE9zsX-jHUzwh8nm_Htn4E5BY1es!/.

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Delvotest®: A Gold Standard

Posted by Marketing Dept.  –  Education, Food Safety, General, Laboratory & QA/QC
September 14, 2020

Forty years ago, DSM introduced Delvotest®, an easy to use, reliable, antibiotic residue test for farmers, dairies, and milk control laboratories. Today, Delvotest® is the gold standard for antibiotic residue testing in the global dairy industry, since it provides the confidence to meet increasingly stringent global legislation and quality demands.

When it comes to individuals daily food consumption, the last thing we seem to worry about is the presence of antibiotic residue in our meats or dairy products. But if a dairy cow had an antibiotic in its system that was designed to fight off a bacterial infection, the residue from the antibiotic could easily be carried over to the milk the cow produced, which is not good. If the entire tank truck of milk was contaminated with antibiotics, the whole thing must be discarded per the FDA.

Delvotest® detects the broadest spectrum of antibiotic residues in every kind of milk—cow, sheep, goat, buffalo—as well as in dairy products. Depending on the antibiotic used, the withdrawal period could be as short as 1 or 2 days, or as long as a few weeks. This is why it is important to utilize test kits to track the withdrawal period. Delvotest® is known for its reliability and accuracy with detection levels closest to Maximum Residue Levels and Safe Tolerance Levels (US). Therefore, Delvotest® is chosen as the national reference test in most countries worldwide. Delvotest® test kits cover three different market areas. Click on the link(s) below that is most suitable for your needs to see which kit is right for you!

Artisan/Farmstead
Kits are designed for artisan and farmstead cheese and dairy processing applications. Delvotest® confidently detects the broadest spectrum of antibiotics in milk and meets the required antibiotic testing requirements for every state in the U.S. Delvotest® is approved by the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments (NCIMS) for the testing of bovine, goat, and water buffalo milk.

Dairy Farmer
These antibiotic residue tests eliminate the uncertainties dairy farmers face when testing for antibiotics in milk. Whether you are testing a bulk tank, or an individual bovine, sheep, goat or buffalo, the consequences of an unreliable test can be costly and devastating. Compared to other antibiotic residue tests on the market, Delvotest® provides low initial start-up costs.

Certified Dairy Laboratory
Enables certified laboratories the ability to reach maximum throughput in milk testing for antibiotic residues. For over 40 years, Delvotest® has enabled dairy laboratories to service the dairy industry with high-quality control over the entire milk supply chain. Dairy laboratories aim to assure that milk quality meets legal quality standards so the test systems they rely on must be robust, accurate and efficient. Delvotest® has become the global standard in antibiotic residue testing due to its consistency, reliability, accuracy and performance. It reduces the time and costs associated with large scale antibiotic residue testing.

Whether you’re a dairy processor or farmer, its essential to avoid passing antibiotic-contaminated milk into the supply stream. These uncertainties are crucial to overcome because it can be both costly and devastating to your company.  No matter where you stand in the milk industry, when you buy into Delvotest® you are buying not only reliable equipment, but also over 40 years of experience and expertise in the milk testing industry.

Links: http://www.milkfacts.info/Milk%20Microbiology/Antibiotics%20in%20Milk.htm, https://www.myfearlesskitchen.com/antibiotics-withdrawal-period/#:~:text=Some%20are%20longer%2C%207%2D10,antibiotic%20can%20be%20used%20on.

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