University health officials
offer students leftover tips
■ By Toiiowing these tips,
students can reduce the risks
of foodborne illnesses
By Lisa Toth
Oregon Daily Emerald
Opening the refrigerator has the
potential of letting loose the over
powering, horrid odor seeping from
a resealable plastic container.
The container holds indistin
guishable, moldy contents.
And its smell saturates the other
produce piled up on top of it, on the
very back of the shelf.
Whether the contents were rem
nants of a doggie bag gone bad or a
dinner long forgotten, the refriger
ator door is shut as quickly as it
was opened.
Despite the risk of leftovers turn
ing sour in the fridge, some college
students habitually keep such foods
for weeks. But University officials
and students have devised a variety
of ways to reduce the risks of food
borne illnesses caused by bacteria.
Health Educator Kristen Olmos
with the University Health Center
said people have a tendency to keep
food in the refrigerator longer than
they should. She added that certain
foods keep longer than others. Ice
cream, for example, can stay in the
freezer for one month. While mayon
naise lasts in the refrigerator for two
months, fresh poultry can only stay in
the refrigerator for one or two days be
fore contracting such common bacte
ria as E. cob, salmonella and listeria.
“I don’t think people should be
afraid of what they eat,” she said.
“They should be mindful of what
they eat.
She said many students will buy
a pizza and throw it in the refrigera
tor, mistakenly thinking they can
pull it out a week later and it will
still be safe to eat. Olmos said after
three or four days, items such as
these should be tossed.
She advised grocery shopping
students to do their errands first and
hit the “outermost perimeter of the
grocery store” for fresh items last,
checking expiration dates during
the process.
“A lot of people don’t realize eggs
have an expiration date,” she said.
She added that, after grocery
shopping, students should “do a
once-over in your refrigerator” to
weed out items that may have ex
pired, especially because most stu
dents don’t go shopping as often as a
family of four.
Some local grocery stores sell
food that has passed its expiration
date for a cheaper price. Olmos said
bread, crackers, rice and other foods
that already have a long shelf life
can still be purchased, even though
“the quality might not be as good. ”
Students still have options for that
food that has spoiled and fallen vic
tim to mold. If there is mold on hard
cheese, Olmos advised cutting off the
mold at least one inch deeper than
what is visible. Any other foods with
mold on them should be discarded.
“We can have bad habits just as
easily as we can have good habits,”
she said.
According to the U.S. Department
of Agriculture’s Food Safety and In
spection Service, if it is suspected
that a person has contracted a food
borne illness that item of food should
be contained and medical profes
sionals should be contacted. The in
cident may also need to be reported
to the local health department.
Some 7 million Americans will
suffer from foodborne illnesses
every year because, at the right tem
perature, bacteria that can’t be seen,
smelled or tasted can multiply to
millions in a few short hours. The
Adam Amato Emerald
Refrigerators, like this one, cannot preserve food indefinitely. Checking for mold and past
expiration dates can reduce the chances of ingesting foodbome bacteria.
USDA reported that about 85 per
cent of cases could be avoided if
people just handled food carefully.
Sophomore Maren Zielony said
even when she puts leftovers in the
refrigerator, her boyfriend usually
eats them within a couple of hours,
so spoilage isn’t much of a problem.
But if her food has been in the refrig
erator for more than a few days,
Zielony offered another solution
that keeps her out of danger.
“Sometimes I ask someone else to
taste it without telling them,” she said.
Like many consumers, Zielony
said she looks for an expiration date
that is the furthest away as possible.
The University also has rules for
students who do their grocery shop
ping in the residence hall dining fa
cilities. Olmos and Food Services
Director Tom Driscoll said resi
dence hall dining follows current
Hazard Analysis and Critical Con
trol Point guidelines for safe food
handling. The HACCP program was
established in the 1970s by NASA
to make sure food rocketed into out
er space with astronauts was safe,
Driscoll said.
He said the food services staff
monitor the temperature of food
they serve every two hours. They
feed about 3,000 people three meals
a day, and all employees have
passed a state food handlers test.
Sponges, for example, which
Driscoll described as a “big, bacteria
glob” are prohibited in the kitchen,
and sanitized towels are used instead.
“Food safety is kind of like put
ting your seat belt on in the car,”
Driscoll said. “You don’t expect
anything to happen, but it could
happen.”
Driscoll said foodbome illnesses
have only been an occasional prob
lem, and he said he has yet to re
ceive multiple calls reporting prob
lems with food that is served.
“That’s the call you hope you
don’t get,” Driscoll said.
The food services staff works to
maintain safe food temperatures
A Quick Guide to Safe
Food Handling
When it doubt, throw it out.
Danger—never taste food that
looks or smells strange to see If It can
still be used. Just discard it.
Is it moldy? The visible mold is only
the tip of the iceberg. The poisons
molds can form are found under the
surface of the food. So, while
sometimes hard cheese, salamis and
firm fruits and vegetables can be
saved by cutting the mold out—
remove a large area around it. Most
molding food should be discarded.
Freeze fresh meat, poultry or fish
immediately if they are not going to
be used within a few days.
Put packages of raw meat, poultry or
fish on a plate before refrigerating so
their juices won’t drip on other food.
Raw juices often contain bacteria.
Source; U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
Food Safety and Inspection Service
when transporting meals, both hot
and cold, Driscoll said. He added
that most of the leftovers from the
central kitchen in Carson dining hall
are donated to Food for Lane County.
“They (Food for Lane County)
have a stringent process of making
sure that food is safe,” he said.
But not everyone is quite as
careful with how they handle their
food. While freshman Stephen
Mouillesseaux said he doesn’t
have a refrigerator in his Schafer
Hall room, he has still found a way
to preserve his food. The theater
arts major said he makes a weekly
Saturday night visit to Grab ’N Go
and spends his points on drinks,
snacks and fruit — and then puts
them on the window ledge in his
room to eat at a later time.
“There’s enough of a draft that
everything stays fresh,” he said.
E-mail features/Pulse editor Lisa Toth
at lisatoth@dailyemerald.com.
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