On December 27, 2009, three restaurants in Manila each had an employee who didn’t have a health certificate attached to the clothing she/he was wearing.
One was at the Chowking restaurant on Roxas Blvd., near corner U.N. Avenue. She was identified as “Carmi”. Official Receipt issued was numbered 2941.
The second employee was at Max’s restaurant at Harrison Plaza in Malate, Manila. A person identified as the assistant supervisor of said restaurant gave
me a paper bearing said person’s alleged name but a person identified as the supervisor of said restaurant took said paper and retained said paper.
The official receipt issued was numbered 217669. The third employee was ar Tokyo Tokyo restaurant at Harrison Plaza, Malate, Manila. The name of said person was given as Irene Estrella.
The O.R. was numbered 112-24269.

A restaurant employee at Robinsons Ermita issued to me a sales invoice/official receipt wherein the space above the phrase “Received in good order” in
said document already contained handwriting when it was given to me. Because the space above the phrase “Received in good order” in said document already
contained handwriting when it was given to me, I could no longer complain if I found something wrong with the food. So, I insisted that said employee issue to me another proof of sale. An employee at a store identified as Hagen Dasz issued to me a proof of sale wherein the address was not in Ermita. Also, when I asked to see the sanitation permit said store was supposed to have, none of the employees at said store were able to show me said document.

laptopmag blog
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yourtotalhealth web site
http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/

wonderhowto web site
http://www.wonderhowto.com/

Fresh and Frozen Seafood: Selecting and Serving it Safely
http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm077331.htm

Holiday Food Safety
http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm188807.htm#HolidayFoodVideo

Many people don't realize that food safety is the most important ingredient in preparing food for the holidays. Here are some helpful food safety resources to keep your holidays happy:

* Holiday Food Safety Success Kit
* Holiday Food Safety Video
* Ready-to-Cook Foods


Holiday Food Safety Success Kit

The Holiday Food Safety Success KitExit Disclaimer, developed by the non-profit Partnership for Food Safety Education, provides tips on how to make sure holiday meals are safe as well as delicious. Recipes, shopping checklist, food safety tips, and children's activities are included in the multi-media program.
Holiday Food Safety Video

This Holiday Food Safety Video shows how to store, prepare, and serve food safely to prevent foodborne illness from ruining the holidays. Follow these easy steps:

CLEAN: Wash hands and surfaces often

SEPARATE: Don't cross-contaminate

COOK: Cook to proper temperature

CHILL: Refrigerate promptly



Holiday Food Safety Video (English)



Holiday Food Safety Video (Spanish)



Ready-to-Cook Foods: Follow Directions to Keep Your Holidays Happy

Eating them right out of the package, without cooking, could make you sick

Cookies are a holiday favorite – and this season is a good time to remind ourselves that ready-to-cook foods of all kinds, including raw, packaged cookie dough, do need to be cooked. Eating these kinds of foods right out of the package, without cooking them, could make you sick from bacteria. Cooking them according to the package directions before you eat them kills bacteria that could make you sick.

Whether it’s packaged cookie dough or a frozen entrée or pizza or any of the other ready-to-cook foods we use for convenience, cook or bake them according to the directions on the package, to help keep your holidays happy.

Most people who get sick from bacteria in ready-to-cook foods that aren’t cooked properly will get better by themselves, although foodborne illness isn’t a very pleasant way to spend the holidays. But anyone, of any age or health condition, could get very sick or die from these bacteria. This is especially true for people with weak immune systems; for example, the very young, the elderly, and people with diseases that weaken the immune system or who are on medicines that suppress the immune system (for example, some medicines used for rheumatoid arthritis).

Pregnant women also need to be especially careful to follow cooking directions on packages, since some bacteria are very harmful or deadly to unborn babies.

It’s a good safety tip to keep in mind all year, not just in the holiday season: Follow the directions on your ready-to-cook food packages to help keep yourself and your loved ones healthy.



Happy Holidays and remember to BE FOOD SAFE!







Produce Safety - Safe Handling of Raw Produce and Fresh-Squeezed Fruit and Vegetable Juices (PDF - 3641KB)
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/UCM174142.pdf


Safe Eats - Meat, Poultry & Seafood
http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm082294.htm
Food Safety for Moms-To-Be Welcome to Safe Eats, your food-by-food guide to selecting, preparing, and handling foods safely throughout your pregnancy and beyond!

Also available in Spanish > En español >




Meat, Poultry & Seafood|Dairy & Eggs|Fruits, Veggies & Juices|
Ready-to-Eat Foods|Eating Out & Bringing In

Meat, Poultry and SeafoodProtein in meat, poultry, and seafood is an important nutrient in your diet, but it can also be an ideal environment for some harmful bacteria. Here's how to keep harmful bacteria at bay and your family safe.

Tips for a Lifetime

Clean Is Key!


Your first steps in food safety are...

* Wash hands thoroughly with warm water and soap before and after handling raw meat, poultry, and seafood.
* Wash cutting boards, dishes, and utensils (including knives), and countertops with soap and hot water after they come in contact with raw meat, poultry or seafood.


Sanitize It!

Kitchen countertops that come in contact with raw meat, poultry, and seafood can be sanitized using a kitchen sanitizer. One teaspoon of liquid chlorine bleach per quart of clean water can also be used to sanitize surfaces. Leave the bleach solution on the surface for about 10 minutes to be effective.


S-E-P-A-R-A-T-E


Improper handling of raw meat, poultry, and seafood can set the stage for cross-contamination - the spread of bacteria from foods, hands, utensils, and food preparation surfaces to another food. Here's how to stop it:

* Separate raw meat, poultry, and seafood from ready-to-eat foods in your grocery shopping cart, refrigerator, and while preparing and handling foods at home. Also, consider placing these raw foods inside plastic bags in your grocery shopping cart to keep the juices contained.
* To prevent juices from raw meat, poultry, or seafood from dripping onto other foods in the refrigerator, place these raw foods in sealed containers or sealable plastic bags.
* If possible, use one cutting board for raw meat, poultry, and seafood and another one for fresh fruits and vegetables. If two cutting boards aren't available, prepare fruits and vegetables first, and put them safely out of the way. Wash the cutting board thoroughly with soap and hot water. Then, prepare the raw meat, poultry, or seafood. Follow by washing the cutting board again.
* Marinades used on raw meat, poultry, or seafood can contain harmful bacteria. Don't reuse these marinades on cooked foods - unless you boil them before applying.
* Never taste uncooked marinade or sauce that was used to marinate raw meat, poultry, or seafood.
* Place cooked food on a clean plate for serving. If cooked food is placed on an unwashed plate that previously held raw meat, poultry, or seafood, bacteria from the raw food could contaminate the cooked food.



CHILL!


To keep all meats, poultry, and food in general safe...

* Your refrigerator should register at 40° F (4° C) and the freezer at 0° F (-18° C). Place a refrigerator thermometer in the refrigerator, and check the temperature periodically. During the automatic defrost cycle, the temperature may register slightly higher than 40° F (4° C). This is okay.


When storing seafood...

* Buy only fresh seafood that's refrigerated or properly iced.
* Refrigerate or freeze seafood immediately if you're not going to cook it right away.



Moms-to-Be: Know the Facts About Methylmercury
Methylmercury is a metal that can be found in some fish. If you're pregnant or trying to become pregnant, don't eat swordfish, tilefish, king mackerel, and shark.

It's okay to eat other cooked fish/seafood as long as a variety of other kinds are selected during pregnancy or while a woman is trying to become pregnant. She can choose shellfish, canned fish, smaller ocean fish, or farm-raised fish. She can safely eat 12 ounces per week of a variety of cooked fish. A typical serving size of fish is from 3 to 6 ounces. Of course, if her serving sizes are smaller, she can eat fish more frequently. For more information, see Methylmercury.

Pre-stuffed Poultry: Fresh Vs. Frozen

* Avoid purchasing fresh, raw whole poultry that's been pre-stuffed. The raw-meat juices mixing with the stuffing can cause bacterial growth.
* Frozen, raw whole poultry that's been pre-stuffed is safe and should be cooked in its frozen state; don't defrost it first.


COOK IT RIGHT!


Raw fish (such as sushi or sashimi) or foods made with raw fish are more likely to contain parasites or bacteria than foods made from cooked fish, so it's important to cook fish thoroughly. Here's how...


Seafood


Finfish should be cooked to an internal temperature of 145° F (63° C). When a food thermometer is not available or appropriate, follow these tips to determine when seafood is done:

* Cook fish until it's opaque (milky white) and flakes with a fork.
* Cook shrimp, lobster, and scallops until they reach their appropriate color. The flesh of shrimp and lobster should be an opaque (milky white) color. Scallops should be opaque (milky white) and firm.
* Cook clams, mussels, and oysters until their shells open. This means that they are done. Throw away the ones that didn't open.


Eating Raw Seafood Is Risky
A pregnant woman and her unborn baby are at risk if she eats raw or undercooked seafood. Moms-to-be should avoid eating raw or undercooked finfish or shellfish (including oysters, clams, mussels, and scallops).

Cook raw meat and poultry to safe internal temperatures. Always use a clean food thermometer to check the internal temperature of these foods. Make sure it goes straight into meats, but doesn't come out the other side and touch the pan. Cook meat and poultry to these temperatures:
Meat

* Cook beef, veal, and lamb roasts and steaks to at least 145° F (63° C).
* Cook pork roasts and chops to at least 160° F (71° C).


Ground Meat

* Cook ground beef, veal, lamb, and pork to at least 160° F (71° C).
* Cook ground poultry to 165° F (74° C).


Poultry

* Cook whole poultry to 180° F (82° C) - insert the food thermometer into the thigh for accurate temperature.
* Cook chicken breasts to 170° F (77° C).


Pork

* Cook pork to an internal temperature of 160° F (71° C) for medium or 170° F (77° C) for well done.



For a printable chart of cooking temperatures, see the Apply the Heat (PDF | 20.3KB) chart.



Smart Talk For Moms To Be

"How can I tell if fish is fresh?"
Perfectly fresh fish and shellfish have virtually no odor. It's only when seafood starts to spoil that it takes on a "fishy" aroma. Fresh fish will have these signs:

* The eyes are clean and bulge a little.
* Whole fish and fillets have firm and shiny flesh and bright, red gills free from slime.
* The flesh springs back when pressed.
* There is no darkening around the edges or brown or yellowish discoloration.
* The fish smells fresh and mild, not "fishy" or ammonia-like.


Note: Keep in mind that just because fish is fresh doesn't mean it's bacteria-free. You still need to follow the food safety tips above when handling or preparing fresh fish.

"What should I look out for when buying frozen seafood?"
You should follow these guidelines:

* Don't buy frozen seafood if its package is open, torn, or crushed on the edges.
* Don't buy packages that are above the frost line in the store's freezer.
* If you can see through the package, look for signs of frost or ice crystals, which could mean the fish has been stored a long time or defrosted and refrozen. In this case, you shouldn't buy it.
* There should be no white spots, dark spots, discoloration or fading, or red or pink flesh to indicate drying-out.

"Some of my favorite seafoods are raw clams and oysters. Why aren't they safe to eat?"
They're unsafe because raw seafoods are more likely to contain parasites or bacteria than foods made from cooked seafood. In addition, clams, mussels, and other mollusks get their food by filtering large quantities of water through their shells. In doing so, they can accumulate more bacteria and viruses than finfish. This makes raw mollusks particularly unsafe to eat. Seafood that's been cooked thoroughly is safe to eat.

"Should I stop marinating meat, poultry, and seafood at room temperature while I'm pregnant?"
Actually, you should discontinue this practice whether you're pregnant or not. Marinade that's been used on raw meat, poultry, and seafood contains raw juices, which may contain harmful bacteria. And, bacteria grow rapidly at room temperature. Refrigeration slows bacterial growth, so for your safety, foods should always be refrigerated while marinating.

For the recommended storage times for foods, see the Refrigerator & Freezer Storage Chart. (PDF | 21.2KB)


Page Last Updated: 08/14/2009