40 – 140

Just as a number of things in life, our safety is not entirely in our own control. What is something you do daily that puts yourself or others in harms’ way, or at least the potential to do so? It could be something you do at work, on the weekends or in your spare time. Driving comes to mind, nearly all of us drive on a daily basis and yet regardless of how careful you are all it could take is someone else’s negligence for an issue to occur. Think of the first time you ever drove on the highway, the difference between 40 and 140…ok 100, because you would never exceed the speed limit on the highway.

40-140, you are probably thinking of rate of speed, and that is good, but it is the rate of speed that bacteria grows that most concerns this article. The temperature danger zone. Anyone who works with food should, and probably is, familiar with this term and range that someone realized is the temperature food borne bacteria grows best. The main focus to anyone in the food industry should be to minimize the amount of time a product is in the danger zone.

Keeping your soup hot, or keeping your milk cold is one of the easiest ways to prevent spoilage, sure there are other methods such as canning or salting but temperature control is more often than not the most widely used method.

Keeping the perishable from perishing should be a concern for all people involved from farm to table, and often is. While most people are conscious of this there may be the occasional individual to whom this rule is regarded as a guide. Even the best in the business can be disserviced by one bad apple. So what does this mean to you? While you are not the only person involved in your food chain, you are one of them. After your purchase please remember the temperature danger zone and refrigerate your goods as soon as possible. Next week we will go onto part two, how to spot a product that may not have been properly stored, and some examples of how groceries can go bad.