Posted on 09/14/2006 7:07:33 PM PDT by milford421
Sorry for the delayed reply.......been outta town. Hub and I were talking bout' that on the way home and he said he didn't think it would kill the virus. It doesn't take long for it to cook. Well, no more fresh spinach for us for awhile. BTW, I didn't cook today milford......I will send tomorrow's menu later. :)
I ate at one of the leading buffets in Las Vegas about six weeks ago and became violently ill shortly thereafter.
I'm with you. No more open serving tables, sneeze guards or not.
You can make your kitchen a cleaner, safer place and fight bacteria, without exposing yourself and your family to toxic chemicals that also damage the environment. You can use a simple safe disinfecting spray that is more effective than any of the commercial cleaners in killing bacteria. As a bonus, it is inexpensive!Susan Sumner, a food scientist at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, worked out the recipe for just such a sanitizing combo. All you need is three percent hydrogen peroxide, the same strength available at the drug store for gargling or disinfecting wounds, and plain white or apple cidar vinegar, and a pair of brand new clean sprayers, like the kind you use to dampen laundry before ironing. If you're cleaning vegetables or fruit, just spritz them well first with both the vinegar and the hydrogen peroxide, and then rinse them off under running water.
It doesn't matter which you use first - you can spray with the vinegar then the hydrogen peroxide, or with the hydrogen peroxide followed by the vinegar. You won't get any lingering taste of vinegar or hydrogen peroxide, and neither is toxic to you if a small amount remains on the produce. As a bonus: The paired sprays work exceptionally well in sanitizing counters and other food preparation surfaces -- including wood cutting boards. In tests run at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, pairing the two mists killed virtually all Salmonella, Shigella, or E. coli bacteria on heavily contaminated food and surfaces when used in this fashion, making this spray combination more effective at killing these potentially lethal bacteria than chlorine bleach or any commercially available kitchen cleaner.
The best results came from using one mist right after the other - it is 10 times more effective than using either spray by itself and more effective than mixing the vinegar and hydrogen peroxide in one sprayer.
[References: Science News 9/29/96; Science News 8/8/98].
http://www.michaelandjudystouffer.com/judy/articles/vinegar.htm
They do not prevent: (1)people like me, shorter than 5'4", from reaching under them to cough and sneeze on the veggies; the staff who stuff them from handling with dirty hands (I've seen a lot of scratching and straightening of hair, then bringing replacement trays; slobs doing the chopping from sneezing, coughing, handling of food with hands that have been all sorts of places; or, even worse, truly evil people who deposit various substances in or on the food prior to placing out for the unsuspecting public; and lastly, coming either from Third World Countries, or as might be the case, being contaminated by feces laced water in the Salinas Valley.
I had never given the matter much thought before. But two weeks spent mostly in either my bed or the potty or in transit between the two gave me lots of time.
Since USA became largely Aztlan, we can no longer assume better than third world sanitation in restaurants or in the food supply.
I agree with everything in your post.
All well and good regarding safe food handling...BUT...(my fault for not checking the link you provided), I was under the impression that there was a safety precaution for washing fresh vegeatables on the clorox link you provided and passed it on.
In this case, this could be misleading and dangerous information, as consumers were NOT told washing was an option.
It is apple season in Washington State.
For all ya'll looking for a fiber fix.
Eat only local lettuce and spinach (but not Salinas, Californians).
Where are those PETA people?
Just think if this was tainted meat.
I bet business is booming at local fruit/veggie stands and co-ops.
It is up here in Oregon.
I was was wondering about frozen spinach.....can you freeze out e coli?
According to Dr Manning on F&F cooking to 160 F' is supposed to do it. I'll wait a day or two.
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