Pumpkin Fruit Cups
Are you fearful to eat out? Afraid you might catch something? Well, hold on to that container of green unidentifiable gunk you just pulled out of the refrigerator. You have a greater chance of contracting food-borne illness in your own kitchen. An estimated 70 percent of food-borne illness originates from your own home, 20 percent from food service establishments, and 5 percent to 10 percent from processed foods.
Many of these cases of food-borne illness are due to eating food that has been mishandled by human hands or cross-contaminated by bacteria from a dirty cutting board or sponge.
Back to that jar you are holding. Just what is that? Is it guacamole? Leftover mashed potatoes? Whatever it is, it smells OK and has no identifiable fuzzies or fur. Grab a spoon, and taste it to figure it out.
Wait a minute. Hold everything!
Some people are especially susceptible to food-borne illness, particularly pregnant women, young children, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. Each year, 76 million Americans fall sick with food-borne illnesses and 5,000 die of them, estimates the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The price tag you pay for contracting food-borne illness can be very high, ranging from nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever and body aches to coma and death. The culprit? Bacteria. When I ask students to draw a picture of what bacteria looks like, the little critter often is drawn showing tiny feet. But in reality, bacteria don’t have feet. They are spread by human contact, poor storage and contamination.
When to toss?
Researchers have found that the average American family throws away 1.28 pounds of food per day, for an annual total of 470 pounds per household, or 14 percent of all food brought into the house. The figures are estimated at even higher when food fed to pets and garbage disposals is entered into the equation.
As a nation, we have a virtual smorgasbord of groceries right in our own trash cans. I know of a college student who put herself through vet school and pulled the lion’s share of her food from a trash can of a popular local business. Now, I don’t recommend you try trash dining 101, but if you’re armed with some tips on what to pitch and what to save, you can save on dollars and trips to the store for Pepto Bismol.
Why do people waste so much food?
n Poor planning. You defrost the chicken and company arrives, so instead of eating the chicken, you go out to eat. Chicken gets shoved to the back of the refrigerator and forgotten about.
n Preconceived notions of what a healthy diet means. You stock up the refrigerator with lots of fresh apples and ingredients for hearty, robust salads and healthy after-school snacks. But instead of crunching on apples, your teens munch on chips and soda at a friend’s house and your spouse has to work late all week. Your best intentions go south, including the wilted lettuce, the squishy mushrooms and moldy green pepper. Referred to as “guilt buying,” about one-third of the fruits and vegetables purchased in this country end up in the trash.
n Buying in bulk. The bigger bag of potatoes appears to be the better bargain, but often the excess ends up in the landfill.
n Special diets. You read a book or magazine featuring a new diet plan, so you purge your home of foods that don’t fit the narrow guidelines most fad diets recommend. Into a large black trash bag go the carb-containing foods and high-calorie desserts, for starters.
n Family history. Grandma told you that eggs can only last for three days and milk for seven. Or not to thaw and refreeze meats. She also lectured you on washing all meats prior to cooking. (All of these are false statements.) Break one of Grandma’s rules, and the food must be tossed. Go to a food safety Web page such as foodsafety.gov. Get the answers, not urban myths or Grandma’s tall tales.
n Food needs to be pitched once it reaches the sell-by date on the package. Wrong. Most foods will last a lot longer than the sell-by date, which is the code stamped on the package to assure you are sold a fresh product. These are developed with plenty of room for error. Milk can be safely used up to a week past the sell-by date, provided it is stored at 40 degrees or below.
n Chicken must be washed before it is used. False again. The latest research shows that washing is not necessary. Any microbes will be entirely destroyed by heat when you cook the meat. It’s actually far more important to wash your hands, your cutting board and your utensils, since they won’t be sterilized by cooking. Washing the raw meat actually increases your chance of food-borne illness, as the bacteria linger in the sink, where it can adhere to dishes and sponges and spread disease.
n Ignorance of food-borne illness. Remember, bacteria don’t have feet. Bacteria are often spread by humans: sneezing, touching or cross-contamination from a dirty knife, cutting board, sponge or counter. Washing your hands is one of the best defenses you have.
Here is a treat that is fun for the kids to make and so healthy they frighten off the ghosts of obesity and other chronic diseases.
PUMPKIN FRUIT CUPS
6-8 oranges
2 (15-ounce) cans fruit cocktail
1 (15-ounce) can pineapple chunks
Black marker
Cut the tops off the oranges, as if it was a pumpkin you were carving. Scoop out the orange, being careful not to rip the peel.
Cut up the oranges to use with the fruit mixture.
Using the marker, draw jack-o’-lantern faces on the oranges. Set them aside to dry.
In a large bowl, combine the fruit cocktail, pineapple chunks and the orange pieces. Scoop fruit mixture into the oranges, and chill for at least one hour before serving.
Makes 6-8 servings.
Lynda Murray, MA, RD, LD, CSSD, lives in Burlington, Iowa. She can be reached at dietitianmagician@q.com or www.dietitianmagician.com. Items in this column are intended to be informational in nature only. It is not intended to diagnose or treat.
