Re: Sterilizing, food handling, sponge corners | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Elizabeth Stevenson (tamgoddessattbi.com) | |
Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2003 11:50:25 -0600 (MDT) |
Sigh. I hope I'm not belaboring this too much, but I will stop after this post. Just because the health department says it, doesn't make it true. There IS a difference in eggs based on how they are produced. Ask a free-range chicken farmer. I will see what information I can find to back up my statement. The sponge-clipping idea is excellent. I will bring that up at our next committee meeting. Again, the bleach is unnecessary. Killing *almost* every germ is not the healthiest thing you can do. This creates resistant bacteria...that's the sound of my head banging on the wall that you hear. -- Liz Stevenson Southside Park Cohousing Sacramento, California tamgoddess [at] attbi.com > From: Lynn Nadeau <welcome [at] olympus.net> > Reply-To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org > Date: Mon, 23 Jun 03 09:24:22 -0800 > To: "cohousing L" <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> > Subject: [C-L]_Sterilizing, food handling, sponge corners > > > At RoseWind Cohousing, we found the local health department was willing > to come to us in our common house and do a video, discussion, and card > issuance for as many of us as wanted to get food handlers' permits. Some > of us already had been through this, for working in restaurants and such. > But a dozen members showed up. We paid the fee from meal-money surplus > (it was about $10 each). > > I was skeptical, as what I'd remembered from such classes was that it was > mostly about handling meat, which is seldom relevant here. But, > especially in the question session with the expert, we learned some new > information. > > For example, most of us had believed that you didn't have to worry about > food poisoning from letting soup sit out too long during assembly, > soaking beans unrefrigerated, or such, if you were going to "boil it > anyway." Like the boiling or baking would protect you. We learned that > with some serious sorts of poisoning, although the heat will kill the > germs, the harm is done by the toxins the germs have emitted - and heat > doesn't neutralize those. > > We learned that eggs which are anything but thoroughly cooked (solid) > have, in Washington State, been transmitting serious illness, and that > this is true whether it's factory-farmed commercial eggs or local organic > eggs. > > We already knew air drying dishes was best, but with limited counter > space and only so many dish racks for our DW machine, we DO expedite it > with dish cloths. So we've bought a stack of white flour-sack dish towels > and written "dishes only" on them, and even the least conscious folks > seem to have caught on to that one, and the cloths go into the laundry > after one meal. > > Sponges are never recommended by health folks, but we also use sponges, > for hand washing of some dishes, and for counters and such. We've had > some luck with a corner-clipping routine: > The sponges we use are rectangular. A sponge with all its corners is for > dishes. One corner clipped is for counters, two corners clipped is for > furniture, three for floor, and beyond that-- pitch it! This means that > as a sponge gets more used, more corners get clipped, and new ones are > added at the "whole" end of the spectrum. A visual chart on the fridge is > a reminder. (We run the sponges through the laundry too - though not the > dryer.) > > The next thing we have to start doing is making up a bowl of sanitizing > solution (one teaspoon bleach per gallon, so it's quite weak) for wiping > counters, knives, etc with during food prep. You need to make it fresh > each day, as the chlorine evaporates. > > Oh, and that food handling training was fun, because we did it together: > I don't think the instructor had ever had a room full of people all > laughing out loud at some of the dumb multiple-choice questions on the > final test! > > A last food safety bit: the parent group has been working on training the > young children not to serve themselves (which often gets grubby hands on > the food) but to ask someone to serve them. And young children simply > aren't allowed in the kitchen around meal times. They use the change in > flooring material as their "line" and are quick to point out to guest > children that "you can't go on the red part". This serves food safety, as > well as the more obvious safety issues around hot stuff and knives. > > > > Lynn Nadeau, RoseWind Cohousing > Port Townsend Washington (Victorian seaport, music, art, nature) > http://www.rosewind.org > http://www.ptguide.com > http://www.ptforpeace.info (very active peace movement here- see our > photo) > > _______________________________________________ > Cohousing-L mailing list > Cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org Unsubscribe and other info: > http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L _______________________________________________ Cohousing-L mailing list Cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org Unsubscribe and other info: http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L
-
Sterilizing, food handling, sponge corners Lynn Nadeau, June 23 2003
- Re: Sterilizing, food handling, sponge corners Elizabeth Stevenson, June 23 2003
- Re: Sterilizing, food handling, sponge corners Elizabeth Stevenson, June 23 2003
- RE: Sterilizing, food handling, sponge corners Sue Pniewski, June 23 2003
Results generated by Tiger Technologies Web hosting using MHonArc.