Food safety, the French connection
Thanks to those little pop-up devices on the turkey, you don’t have to worry about getting Salmonella from this year’s feast, but there’s much more to food safety than just that. Most people falsely believe that food safety is out of their control, and look to government organizations like the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to keep them safe from contaminated foods. Unfortunately, the grim reality is that not all countries measure up to U.S. food sanitation standards; yet the USDA still allowing foods to be imported from places proven to have substandard conditions.
To cite just one example — and there are many — meat packing plants in France, one of Europe’s most “civilized” nations, failed to meet U.S. sanitation standards. USDA officials cited instances of fecal contamination. They also noted that at least one company allowed dirty water to drip onto raw meat. Inspectors found that employees at seven different plants failed to wash their hands after handling contaminated meat or after using the restroom. In total, 13 out of 19 plants were found to have serious sanitation problems; yet of these 13, only seven were banned from exporting their products — and even those mandates were only temporary!
Unfortunately, there is no way to tell where the meat you buy in the grocery store came from. It is USDA policy that food retailers can mix foreign and domestic brands without labeling as to the products’ origin(s).
However, it is possible to make your food safe, no matter where it came from–with just a few simple steps.
You should only buy whole cuts of meat from your local supermarket. Once you get them home, store them in the freezer for 24 hours. This will kill any parasites.
Before serving the meat, let the whole cut soak in 3 percent hydrogen peroxide solution for five minutes, dry it with a towel, and then slice or grind it. Eat it within an hour of preparation.
You should not buy ground meats (beef, pork, veal, turkey, etc.). If the surface of a piece of meat is contaminated and that cut is then ground, the entire batch becomes contaminated. Grind your own meat at home, after storing the cut in the freezer overnight and soaking it in hydrogen peroxide.
