Most people, at one time in their life, have consumed a cold hot dog and commonly consume ready to eat deli meats. The following information is very important for pregnant women and young children. Do not allow your young children to consume cold hot dogs. If you are pregnant, please listen carefully to the following instructions.
Ready to eat deli meats such as ham, turkey, bologna, and others that are pre-packaged or sliced at the deli counter need some special handling because of a unique bacterium, Listeria monocytogenes (LM).
Listeria can cause a life threatening illness for pregnant women and their unborn child. Deli type meats may become contaminated with LM during packaging and handling at the store. The most unique characteristic of LM is that it is able to grow at refrigeration temperatures. If it gets to high enough numbers, it will make you sick. So, how do we make sure that our deli meats are free from LM? Microwaving the product until it is uniformly steaming will kill LM and make the product safe to consume right away.
Once microwaved, the meat may still become contaminated so it is important to either consume it right away or to refrigerate it promptly and hygienically.
Sam Beattie, Ph.D.
Food Safety Extension Specialist
Food Science and Human Nutrition
Iowa State University
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment