TIP - How to Tell if Eggs are Fresh

Fresh chicken egg cracked out of its shell

Your grandmother may have had to check the freshness of farm eggs by dunking them, still in their shells, into water. The belief was that fresh eggs would sink and eggs you would not want to cook or eat would float.

This old wives’ tale is not entirely accurate, however. It is true that the air cell inside the eggshell enlarges as the egg ages. But floating eggs may still be safe to eat. Crack the egg into a bowl and check its appearance and smell before deciding whether to use or discard it. A spoiled egg has a distinctive sulfur-like odor known as “rotten egg smell.” If the egg smells OK, it is likely safe to cook with.

There is a better way to check the freshness of eggs you get from the grocery. Check the egg carton!

Eggs packed at plants that are under US Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspection have a pack-date number on the carton. These 3-digit numbers (called Julian dates) range from 001 to 365, and indicate the date (from January 1 through December 31) that the eggs were packaged. The American Egg Board states that raw eggs stored in their cartons in the refrigerator are safe to eat for four to five weeks beyond the Julian date.

Egg packing at plants not under USDA inspection comes under state laws for labeling. Most require a Sell-By or EXP date, which is a direction to the store, but is also the consumer’s guarantee of freshness for a couple of weeks past that date.

For a downloadable infographic explaining Julian and Sell-By dates and many other labels found on egg cartons, please see: https://www.incredibleegg.org/egg-types-packaging.

Things to Do - Oct 6-10 Eggstravaganza Virtual Family Week

A very full nest of eggs

It used to be that we felt we could not eat many eggs because the yolks contain cholesterol. Now we know that saturated fat, not dietary cholesterol, has a great effect on blood cholesterol and thus the risk of stroke and heart attack.

In fact, research published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in April 2020 reviewed the effect of eggs in the diet on 177,000 people in 50 different countries. The researchers found no association between those who ate an average of more than an egg a day compared to those who ate less than one egg per week on measures such as blood lipids, mortality, and major cardiovascular disease events. Moderate egg consumption is safe!

Manitoba (Canada) Egg Farmers is sponsoring a five-day Eggstravaganza! Starting Tuesday, October 6, each day offers a fun family activity. On the 6th, learn to cook classic deviled eggs with dietitian Carla D’Andreamatteo and her daughter. Carla has worked with Virtual Ability in the past on a nutrition education research project. She also did a presentation on Healthinfo Island during the Women in Science celebration.

There is a Twitter Party for adults on the 7th and TWO fun events for kids on the 8th. Learn magic tricks you can do at home on YouTube at 8am SLT with magician Cary Tardi. At 5pm SLT attend a party with Elsa, Spiderman, and your children on Zoom.

Friday, Oct 9, which is World Egg Day, Canadian egg farmers answer your questions about hens, eggs, and egg farming. This special week ends on Saturday with a virtual tour of a working egg farm

If that’s not enough family activities about eggs, your kids can sign up for a free fun egg-tivity kit that contains an activity for each day of the Eggstravaganza week.

How to Prepare Food Safely During a Pandemic

Men in fire suits in front of barbeque

At present, it does not appear that COVID-19 is spread through food. However, this is a good time to practice good food preparation hygiene. Here are some tips.

• Wash your hands properly before and after touching raw food, before and after cooking food, before serving or eating food, and after eating.
• Wash countertops, cutting boards and kitchen utensils with hot soapy water before use, and between various food items. This is especially important to isolate animal products such as meat, fish or poultry.
• Wash fresh fruits and vegetables thoroughly before cooking them or eating them raw. For complete information on how to wash various types of fruits and vegetables, consult this source: https://extension.wsu.edu/foodsafety/content/washing-fresh-produce/
• Clean off the tops of cans before you open them. It’s also important to clean the can opener blade after use. For more on why you should clean the tops of cans before opening them, read this: https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/02/04/yuck-whats-on-that-soda-can-cbs-11s-i-team-finds-out/

These hygiene practices are ones you should have been following all along. If you haven’t, perhaps now is the time to start making them part of your food preparation habits.

For more information on COVID-19 and food safety, please download this PDF: https://foodsafety.ces.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Food-Safety_COVID-19_Flyer_031720-1.pdf

How to Grocery Shop Safely During a Pandemic

Grocery store fruits and vegetables

Try to shop at a time when it is less likely others will be shopping. Use curbside pick up if available.

If you must go into the store, wear a mask and practice social distancing. Bring your own cloth shopping bags that can be put into the laundry immediately upon unpacking at home. Click here for more information on cleaning and disinfecting reusable bags: https://foodsafety.ces.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Reusable-bags_COVID-19_Flyer.pdf.

Bring sanitizing wipes and wipes down the handle of the grocery cart before touching it.

Fresh produce is generally a healthy food, but it is presented at the store in ways where it may become contaminated with a variety of germs. This is no reason to avoid it! Instead grab two of the plastic produce bags. Put your hand inside one, and use it to pick up the produce you want to purchase, and put it into the second bag. That makes the first bag act as a protective glove.

Wash your hands after returning from the store, and wash them again once you’ve put everything away in your pantry. Be sure to properly clean produce once you get it home or before you prepare it.

Is Drive-Through or Take-Out Food Save During A Pandemic?

 

Is it safe to eat at the drive-through or get take-out food during a pandemic?

There does not appear to be any evidence that food or food packaging can transmit the COVID-19 virus.  At this time, the biggest infection risk appears to be from person-to-person transmission. Food businesses should enforce work procedures that keep their employees safe and healthy. Food service employees who have symptoms of illness should not be at work. Drive-through and meal delivery programs seem to offer the best options for maintaining social distancing and reducing contact between food preparers and customers.

Remember to disinfect your credit card when it is returned to you, before you stick it back in your wallet. It is unlikely, according to current understanding, that the coronavirus can survive long on food packaging. It also appears to be unlikely for the virus to survive in prepared foods. However it is always wise to wash your hands or use hand sanitizer after touching food packaging materials and before eating.

In deciding whether you will risk acquiring coronavirus from drive-through or take-out meals, you will also want to consider how important it is to support local small businesses. Many employees in fast food restaurants need the income their job provides.

For further information on the safety of prepared foods, please download this PDF: https://foodsafety.ces.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Takeout_COVID-19_Flyer_032320.pdf.

Things To Do - Clean High Touch Areas

OK, this does not sound like a fun activity, but it is an important one, and you should be doing this daily in addition to your regular home cleaning routine.

What are high touch areas?
Think of them as places you and others in your home leave lots of fingerprints. Here are some common examples:

• Door knobs
• Light Switches
• Water faucet handles
• Toilet flush handle
• Remote control
• Telephone
• Keyboards and keypads
• Counter tops 
• Drawer and cabinet pulls
• Refrigerator door handle
• Microwave door handle
• Table tops

What cleaning equipment do I need?
Disinfectant spray or wipes that contain ingredients to kill 99.9% of germs on hard surfaces

OR

Soapy water (a few drops of liquid dish soap in a cup of water) is equally effective.

How do I clean these surfaces?
In a word, thoroughly. Be sure you wipe vigorously. Get into all crevices and be sure to wipe off all exposed surfaces.

WARNING:  Never spray or wipe liquids on electronic devices such as phones or computer keyboards. Follow manufacturer directions. It is generally safe to spray cleaning products onto a soft lint free cloth just until the cloth is damp, and then use it to gently wipe the device.

TIP: Sometimes you want a fresh egg, sometimes you don’t

Brown egg resting on two forks

What do you know about egg freshness?

Most eggs are on the store shelves within a day of being laid. That’s fresh! Want to know more about how eggs get from farm to store? (Here’s that story.)

As eggs age, the consistency of the albumen or white becomes thinner. The yolk flattens out as its membrane weakens. So if you want to fry an egg and create a thicker white with a yolk that stands up, use the freshest eggs. On the other hand, hard-cooked eggs are easier to peel if they are aged, not fresh.

The End of Cookout Season

Grilling

Do you grill or broil your steak or chicken? Do you regularly eat meats that are cooked at a high enough temperature to char the outside?

You may be putting yourself at risk for high blood pressure.

It has long been known that eating red meat, especially processed red meat, is associated with high blood pressure. The evidence relating chicken and fish (white meats) to high blood pressure had been unclear until recent research that focused on cooking methods.

When red or white meat proteins are exposed to high temperatures or charred, heterocyclic aromatic amine (HAA) chemicals are formed. This cooking method also creates polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and advanced glycation end products. Animal studies have shown these three types of chemicals to all be hazardous, inducing oxidative stress, insulin resistance and inflammation. Those physiological conditions can increase the risk of developing hypertension.

Researchers studied people who ate meat at least twice a week. They found that those who ate well-done meat or who cooked meat at high temperatures or exposed to open flames had a greater risk for high blood pressure.

Not yet convinced to put away the hibachi and turn in your barbecue tongs? The researchers also found that cooking meats at high temperatures was also linked to weight gain and a risk of obesity. These are both factors increasing the risk of high blood pressure in addition to other health risks.

Read an interview with the head researcher here.

Expiry Dates

Soda can expiration date

Let’s start this article off with a quick quiz.

Which item would you be willing to use if its manufacturer would not guarantee it operated safely and effectively?

(a) antibiotic cream for a cut to prevent infection

(b) sunscreen to protect you from a sunburn at the beach

(c) condom to protect against sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancy

(d) infant car seat to protect your baby in case of a car crash

(e) none of the above

Maybe you did not realize that, as with foods, many other consumer products have expiration dates. Here are a few to consider.

Antibiotic Cream

The bathroom medicine cabinet is one of the WORST places to store tubes of antibiotic cream (and other medications). Heat and humidity increase the rate of degradation of the chemicals in the ointment. The expiration date that is usually stamped on the crimp at the bottom of the tube is when the manufacturer will no longer guarantee the product’s effectiveness, especially if not stored in a cool, dry environment.

Hydrogen Peroxide

It comes in a brown bottle to protect the chemical from light. The contents of an unopened bottle should remain effective for 3 years, but once it’s opened, it won’t work properly after about 6 months.

To see if older hydrogen peroxide will still be effective in cleaning a cut, pour a bit into the sink. If it fizzes, it is probably OK to use.

Sunscreen

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires that sunscreen ingredients remain effective at their original strength for at least 3 years after manufacture.

Some sunscreen containers show the expiration date. If not, use a marker to write the purchase date on the bottom of the container, and throw it away 3 years after.

Do not store sunscreen in excessive heat (like your car in summer) or in the direct sun, as that will increase the rate of degradation. If you took the sunscreen with you to the beach, store it under a towel. And of course, if the product looks or feels “off,” do not use it no matter what the expiration date.

Condoms

Most packages of condoms have a printed expiration date when the material from which the condom is made begins to degrade. Storage matters. Condoms in individual wrappers break down faster if they are in a warm, moist pace where they can get creased (such as a wallet or pants pocket). If a condom seems stiff, dry or sticky when the wrapper is opened, discard it.

Mascara

Makeup gets contaminated with bacteria when you apply it. Since you do not want an eye infection, throw away opened mascara after 3 months of use, earlier if it dries out.

For more information about the shelf life of cosmetics, see this information from the US Food and Drug Administration.

Infant Car Seat

Most newer car seats have the expiration date stamped on the bottom. The materials from which the seat is constructed degrade over time, especially when left in a hot environment such as a coxed car during summer months. In general, good quality name-brand car seats will be safe to use for 6-10 years but be cautious of seats you find at garage sales.

If you are concerned about the safety of a car seat, or if you want advice on proper installation, most car seat inspection stations will provide assistance for free. Find a car seat inspection station near you, courtesy of the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Bicycle Helmet

Inspect your helmet for wear every time you use it, which should be every time you pedal. Sunlight degrades the plastic outer shell, and salt from sweat acts against the materials of the lining. Depending on how often you bike, you may need a new helmet every 2-4 years.

Paint

Cans of paint typical do not list an expiration date, so it’s wise to use a marker to write the purchase date on the bottom of the can. Unopened cans of latex-based paint will remain good for up to 10 years; unopened oil-based paints last as long as 15 years.

However, paint begins to go bad as soon as the can is opened. You should certainly dispose of any can that has been opened after 2-4 years, earlier if you notice the paint has dried out, molded, or its texture is chunky.

Motor Oil

After storage for about 5 years in an optimal environment motor oil tends to separate and its consistency will change. This compromises its performance in protecting your car’s engine.

Household Batteries

Most of these are labeled with an expiration date, sometimes called a Best If Used By (BIUB) date. Although they may continue to work past that date, parts will have begun to corrode and this makes it more difficult for the battery to transfer electricity to your battery-powered device, so, for instance, the flashlight will start looking dimmer. Read this article to learn why batteries have an expiration date.

Cooking Meat Safely

1.  Proper meat cooking for safe results begins with purchasing the meat.

• Purchase fresh meat and poultry last before checkout.
• Meat should feel cold in the store. Any meat product that feels warm has not been properly stored and could be unhealthy.
• Look for packages that are tightly wrapped with no tears or punctures in the wrapping. If the product is vacuum packed, be sure the seal has not been broken and the package is not leaking.
• Avoid packages with excessive liquid around the fresh meat, or ice around frozen meat. This might mean it had been stored improperly.
• Check the sell-by date on the package to ensure freshness. If you buy meat or poultry on or right before the sell-by date, be sure to freeze it as soon as you get home or prepare it that day.
• Wrap the meat package in a plastic bag before you put it in the grocery cart to avoid leaking meat juices onto other food products.
• If the grocery store is more than 30 minutes from home, transport purchased meat products in an ice chest or cooler.

2.  Store the meat carefully before preparation.

• Refrigerate purchased meat and poultry as soon as you get home from the store.
• Keep meat cold in the meat compartment or coldest part of the refrigerator to inhibit the growth of bacteria that cause spoilage. Be sure the temperature of your refrigerator is 40 degrees F (4 degrees C) or lower.
• Keep refrigerated meat packages on a tray or in a plastic bag so the meat juices do not leak onto other food.
• If you freeze meat or poultry for use within a week, do so in its original store wrapping. If you plan to keep the meat in the freezer for more than a week, it should be removed from the store wrapping and rewrapped securely in freezer paper or plastic freezer bags.

3.  During preparation, it is important to avoid contamination of meat and other foods.

• Wash your hands carefully in hot soapy water before and after handling fresh meat and poultry.
• Keep fresh meat and poultry and their juices away from other foods, both in the refrigerator and in the preparation area.
• If the meat was frozen, the safest way to defrost it is by letting it sit in the refrigerator. Never defrost at room temperature, as that allows harmful bacteria to grow.
• To defrost a package of meat more quickly in cold water, leave it in its original packaging or in a leak-proof bag if the packaging is not air-tight. Submerge the package completely in cold water. 
• Change the water every 30 minutes so the meat stays cool while it thaws.
• Some microwaves come with a defrost feature. This works quickly but can begin to cook the meat in random areas. These spots become warm enough for bacteria to grow, so microwave-defrosted meat and poultry should be cooked immediately.
• As soon as meat and poultry has been prepared for cooking, wash all cutting surfaces, utensils and counter tops with hot soapy water. If possible, use a special dedicated cutting board only for fresh meat and poultry.
• Never put cooked foods on the same board, tray or platter that was used for fresh meat or poultry before it was cooked. When grilling, use separate plates to transport fresh and cooked meats.

4.  Meat should be cooked to the correct internal temperature. This will kill harmful bacteria that might be in the fresh meat.

• The best way to know if meat is cooked thoroughly is to use an instant-read or ovenproof meat thermometer, which can help you avoid both undercooking and overcooking. Insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, but do not let it touch bone. If pieces of meat are irregular in size, check a few of them to be sure they are all cooked to the appropriate temperature.
• Slow cookers or crockpots are very safe ways to cook fresh meat and poultry. These kitchen tools will keep meat and poultry at a safe temperature as long as they are operating.
• Frozen meat and poultry may be safely cooked in the oven, grilled, or on the stove without defrosting, although the cooking time may be up to 50% longer for the meat to come to the correct internal temperature.
• It is not safe to cook frozen meat and poultry in a slow cooker or crockpot.

5. After serving your meat dish, if there are leftovers to be used in a later meal, proper storage is again important.

• Chill leftover meats quickly before storing in the refrigerator or freezer to hinder bacterial growth. Spread large amounts out in a shallow container or divide large quantities into several smaller portions.
• Ensure proper airflow around leftover containers in the refrigerator or freezer. Do not pack them tightly. This helps maintain the proper temperature in the compartment.
• Label the leftover container with the date it was put into the refrigerator or freezer. Cooked meat and poultry will be safe in the refrigerator for 3-4 days; it will last in the freezer up to 4 months. If you are unsure how long the cooked food has been stored, throw it out.