NUTRI 11 – Fall 2011
Chapter 13 (Food Safety and Technology: Impact on Consumers) Links and Resources
FDA Food Recalls
Press releases about recalled products issued within the last 60 days are published on this page. Can
search for related recalls, as well.
Bad Bug Book
It brings together in one place information from the Food & Drug Administration, the Centers for
Disease Control & Prevention, the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service, and the National Institutes of
Health.
Describes pathogenic microbes and natural toxins.
FightBAC
Run by the Partnership for Food Safety Education (The United States Department of Agriculture, the
United States Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council).
Also responsible for Food Safe Families campaign.
Clean, Separate, Cook, Chill
Food Safe Families Campaign (launched June 28, 2011).
Chill (video)
Food Safe Families - PSA #1.
New Internal Meat Temperatures (with Rest!)
It used to be 160F.
Now:
All whole cuts of meat should be cooked until a food thermometer inserted into the thickest part of
the meat registers 145 degrees F. The meat should then be allowed to rest for at least three minutes
before eating. The rest time allows the food to stay at the recommended temperature for a specific
period of time, which is necessary to kill all pathogens.
What's In Our Meat?
Half (that's 50%!) of all meat sold in the US has bacterial contamination.
Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points
The FDA's guidelines for manufacturers. HACCP is a systematic approach to the identification,
evaluation, and control of food safety hazards based on the following seven principles:
Principle 1: Conduct a hazard analysis.
Principle 2: Determine the critical control points (CCPs).
Principle 3: Establish critical limits.
Principle 4: Establish monitoring procedures.
Principle 5: Establish corrective actions.
Principle 6: Establish verification procedures.
Principle 7: Establish record-keeping and documentation procedures.
Food Safety Quiz
What grade does your kitchen get? The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health's Food Safety
Quiz will give you a grade that you can compare to your favorite restaurant!
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Los Angeles County Public Health – Restaurant Grade Searchable Database
Inspected retail food facilities receive a letter grade or a score according to their
inspection score (The cities of Long Beach, Pasadena and Vernon inspect their own retail
food facilities, so inspection results for those facilities do not appear on this site.).
You can look up the inspection results for restaurants, markets etc., in your area by using
the search form below. Wholesale facilities such as Wholesale Food Markets and Food
Warehouses are not rated/scored but full disclosure of violations are displayed. For a
detailed explanation of Wholesale Food Inspections go to the Wholesale Food Inspection
Guide.
Pasadena Public Health – Environmental Health Restaurant Scores
At this website you can view the date of the most recent health inspection of an establishment, the
results of that inspection, and the score assigned to the establishment based on the inspection results.
The scoring system is based upon 100 weighted points distributed over 80 different violations that
summarize all the health and sanitation regulations, from food protection to conditions of walls and
floors. Critical violations (a provision that, if violated, is more likely than other violations to contribute
to food contamination, illness and/or injury) are assigned a higher weighted point value than noncritical violations. Critical violations are listed on the inspection report. The score is obtained by
subtracting the sum of the weighted points assigned to each category where a violation has been
found from the total of 100 points.
Still Tasty
Keep It or Toss It? How long will your favorite food or beverage stay safe and tasty? What's the best
way to store it?
A database with thousands of items!
GMO Food Labeling - Where is it?
Not required on new alfalfa, corn or sugar beets.
True Food
Non-GMO Shopper's Guide
The Center for Food Safety works to protect human health and the environment by curbing the
proliferation of harmful food production technologies and by promoting organic and other forms of
sustainable agriculture.
Sweet Misery Documentary (video)
Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World (a documentary about aspartame's role in stroke and heart attacks).
Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS)
"GRAS" is an acronym for the phrase Generally Recognized As Safe. Under sections 201(s) and 409 of
the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act), any substance that is intentionally added to food
is a food additive, that is subject to premarket review and approval by FDA, unless the substance is
generally recognized, among qualified experts, as having been adequately shown to be safe under the
conditions of its intended use, or unless the use of the substance is otherwise excluded from the
definition of a food additive.
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Be Food Smart
Be Food Smart has a huge database of food additives, chemicals, food colorings, sweeteners, and
preservatives. Very easy to understand and helpful information. Make an informed decision about
what you eat ...
13 Secret Toxins Lurking in Your Food
... and how to AVOID them!
Want to Detox? Avoid These Food Additives
1- Artificial sweeteners and HFCS
2- Monosodium glutamate
3- Propylene glycol
4- Hydrogenated oils
5- Food dyes
6- Sulfites
7- Sodium nitrite/nitrate
8- BHA and BHT
Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Exposure Elimination Act of 2011
The bill, introduced at the end of July 2011, would give the director of the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences, and a panel of experts selected by the director, the power to ban up
to 10 chemicals from commerce each year by categorizing them as being of high concern.
Those chemicals would become unlawful to use 24 months after receiving that designation.
To read an advance copy of the bill (before it was introduced to Congress), go to:
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/images/07/08/endocrine.disrupting.chemicals.exposure.eliminati
on.act.of.2011-jun.24.pdf
To keep up-to-date on its progress, go to:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-2521
Sustainable Seafood Guide (NRDC)
The National Resource Defense Council's Sustainable Seafood Guide. The "Eat or Avoid?" link directs
you to the seafood dirty dozen:
•Atlantic Cod
•Atlantic Halibut
•Chilean Sea Bass
•Grouper
•Monkfish
•Orange Roughy
•Shark
•Dogfish
•Skate
•Atlantic Sole
•Tilefish
•Tuna (also called toro)
Environmental Defense Fund Seafood Selector
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Seafood Selector (and Sushi Selector) promote sustainable and healthy oceans.
Different from other guides because work with troubled fisheries to improve management and
conservation, which can improve their ratings over the long run.
National Smart Seafood Guide 2011
From Food and Water Watch, a great resource that helps decrease invasive fish species while also
keeping you healthy.
FishPhone - iPhone App
FishPhone is the most user-friendly phone app that has been released so far.
Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch
The first guide to be put out, you can order free copies sent directly to your house. Now available in an
iPhone app!
Dirty Dozen/Clean Fifteen
The Environmental Working Group's 2011 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides. Apples and Celery top the
Dirty Dozen, while Onions and corn top the Clean Fifteen.
What's On My Food?
A searchable database designed to make the public problem of pesticide exposure visible and more
understandable.
EWG Meat Guide
Eat Smart. Your Food Choices Affect the Climate.
Infographic (note lamb is the worst choice): http://www.ewg.org/meateatersguide/eat-smart/
Label Lookup
You are in a store, considering what to buy and you see a claim on a product -- maybe your cleaning
product bears the Green Seal label, or a claim on the carton says the eggs are "Animal Welfare
Approved." What does it mean? Is it backed up by good standards? Can you trust it?
We've researched roughly 200 different claims that can be found on product labels and gathered what
we learned into this tool so that you can make informed product choices.
Good Guide
GoodGuide provides the world’s largest and most reliable source of information on the health,
environmental, and social impacts of consumer products.
Click on "How It Works" for a great introductory video.
One Food Safety Agency?
Should we follow the European Union's combined food safety agency?
"FDA is generally responsible for ensuring that shell eggs, including eggs at farms such as those where
the outbreak occurred, are safe, wholesome, and properly labeled and Food Safety and Inspection
Service is responsible for the safety of eggs processed into egg products. In addition, while USDA's
Agricultural Marketing Service sets quality and grade standards for the eggs, such as Grade A, it does
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not test the eggs for microbes such as Salmonella. Further, USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service helps ensure the health of the young chicks that are supplied to egg farms, but FDA oversees
the safety of the feed they eat."
The Story of Bottled Water
YouTube video
Blue Gold: World Water Wars (video)
Free view of this documentary online. Eye-opening look at water sanitation and what our bottled
water does around the world.
Big Bucks, Big Pharma (video)
What else are we putting in our bodies? And why?
Whole Foods Rap
Whole Foods Parking Lot – Music Video
Vegetable Rap
Warn Oprah, I’m going to eat all of the okra…