Taco Bell Hell

[Fat Guy]

It says so on TV. It must be true.

One thing I hear a lot from people is that they "can tell how safe a restaurant is by how clean it looks." This myth has been repeated several times throughout this recent news cycle -- I think the source may actually have been somebody at the FDA who should have known better.

The visual appearance of cleanliness and the reality of safe food can be totally unrelated, or even in some cases inversely related. One of the most telling examples appeared in a New York Times piece by Amanda Hesser awhile back:

Chuck Gerba, a professor of environmental microbiology at the University of Arizona who has studied bacteria in home kitchens, said that he found that people who had the cleanest-looking kitchens were often the dirtiest. Because ''clean'' people wipe up so much, they often end up spreading bacteria all over the place. The cleanest kitchens, he said, were in the homes of bachelors, who never wiped up and just put their dirty dishes in the sink.

In addition, it is of course the case that in the two recent high-profile instances (spinach, scallions) the food was contaminated before it ever entered a restaurant or other retail outlet, and this sort of bacteria don't just come off when you wash something -- so no amount of rinsing, scrubbing and cleaning of the food or the restaurant would have made a bit of difference.

[TAPrice]

The visual appearance of cleanliness and the reality of safe food can be totally unrelated, or even in some cases inversely related. One of the most telling examples appeared in a New York Times piece by Amanda Hesser awhile back:

Chuck Gerba, a professor of environmental microbiology at the University of Arizona who has studied bacteria in home kitchens, said that he found that people who had the cleanest-looking kitchens were often the dirtiest. Because ''clean'' people wipe up so much, they often end up spreading bacteria all over the place. The cleanest kitchens, he said, were in the homes of bachelors, who never wiped up and just put their dirty dishes in the sink.

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I think that depends on what your definition of "clean" is. You can't tell me those bachelors wouldn't hang on to leftover pizza well past it's prime. Of if a little mold was found on the salsa, they wouldn't just scrape it off and serve it to guests.

I guess that just reconfirms Steven's point that there is more to food safety than surface cleanliness. And that, my friends, is why he's an expert.

I have the sinking feeling that I'm not clean enough at home. Any food safety guides aimed at the home cook?

Edited December 11, 2006 by TAPrice (log)

[Fat Guy]

The most significant improvement almost any home cook can make with respect to food safety is to get serious about hand washing. At least one credible source (American Dietetic Association) says foodborne illnesses could be cut in half if everybody observed proper hand washing protocols.

You need to wash your hands vigorously for 20+ seconds using soap and water -- just rinsing doesn't work. And you need to do it before working in the kitchen as well as between working with, for example, meat and vegetables. And you need to do it after. Hand sanitizer is also a good product.

Some other problem areas are: sponges, dishtowels, cutting boards (all of these need to be kept clean, and there are different procedures depending on the nature of the item and the temperature of your hot tap water), improper refrigerator arrangements (for example, meat should go on the bottom so stray juices can't drip down on anything else), failure to chill foods quickly enough, failure to defrost properly and various other temperature considerations.

Take it from the expert.

[lamb]

I happened to be in my own kitchen Sunday morning, down at the Jersey shore, when I heard your name with the title "food critic" in front of it coming from my TV. Sure 'nuff, there you were, right there in my living room, talking to me about the safety of fast food. As my hubby and kids don't really care too much about my egullet membership, they didn't share my enthusiasm over seeing Steven Shaw on GMA. My teenage daughter, who happens to love Taco Bell, wanted me to get a personal assurance from you that she won't get sick the next time she eats there. And she will eat there again-without a doubt.

Nice job, Fat Guy.

[Fat Guy]

Taco Bell may very well be one of the safest places in America to eat right now. The stocks have been cycled, the restaurants have been disinfected and the whole operation is under the magnifying glass. My only issue is that so much of the food at Taco Bell, which isn't particularly good to begin with, is being served without scallions right now -- that can't help its already limited flavor.

[Fat Guy]

Latest tests from the FDA say that scallions may not have been the problem!

The New York Times reported today that:

Maybe the green onions were not the culprit after all.

As the number of confirmed or suspected cases of E. coli infection rose to 400 yesterday, federal officials said that their testing had failed to confirm preliminary findings by Taco Bell that some green onions in its restaurants were contaminated.

[tommy]

it was the butler. in the pantry. my guess?: with the candlestick.

[ghostrider]

Was a report on local TV news two nights ago that the E. coli had been found in white onions used by Taco Bell.

This is the first report I've seen clarifying the fact that those white onions had a strain of the bacteria different from the one that had sickened folks.

On with the search.