- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
- Contributor: Patti C. Wooten Swanson
‘Tis the season for gathering with friends and family and eating. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Festivus for the rest of us, many of us invite people to our homes during the holidays and leave food out to graze. Leaving food out for more than two hours can be hazardous to your health and that of your guests, caution UC Cooperative Extension nutrition experts.
You may be thinking, “My family has eaten food that has been sitting on the table longer than two hours and survived.” Consider yourself lucky.
“We keep learning more about foodborne illness,” says Patti Wooten Swanson, UC Cooperative Extension nutrition advisor in San Diego County. “We probably did get sick, but we thought it was something else, like the 24-hour flu.”
She added that kids, diabetics, pregnant women, older adults and people with weakened immune systems are more susceptible to foodborne illnesses.
- Thaw turkey or meat in the refrigerator.
- Don't wash raw meat or poultry in the sink before cooking.
- Use a meat thermometer to determine when meat or poultry is done.
- Put leftovers in the refrigerator within two hours.
- On the fourth day, throw leftovers away.
- Guacamole and salsa and guacamole shouldn't be left out for longer than 2 hours.
Thawing foods correctly and storing them at the right temperatures is important, said Wooten Swanson.
“Bacteria grow very rapidly,” she said. “From 40 degrees to 140 degrees is what we call the danger zone. We encourage you to get food out of that temperature range as soon as possible. Don't let food sit on the table after you finish eating and go to watch TV.”
While you're watching football, she also recommends not leaving food out the length of a game.
“Chips are fine to leave out,” Wooten Swanson said, “But put the salsa and guacamole in small containers, then put out new bowls at halftime. Take away the original containers to wash or discard.You don't want to refill a bowl that has been out for 2 hours.”
- Washing your hands can prevent bacteria from spreading to food.
- Washing your hands can prevent bacteria from spreading to food.
- Food safety begins with clean hands.
She recommends rubbing your hands together with soap and water for 20 seconds to thoroughly clean them.
The UC Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) teaches hand washing as a food safety practice in its nutrition classes for adults and children. After taking the class in San Diego County, 72 percent of the 340 participating adults improved their safe food-handling practices and 55 percent of 1,231 children improved, said Wooten Swanson, who oversees the nutrition and food safety education program.
For more food safety resources, visit Nebraska and Iowa State Cooperative Extension's food safety website at http://www.4daythrowaway.org. For USDA recommended temperatures for cooking meat, visit http://blogs.usda.gov/2011/05/25/cooking-meat-check-the-new-recommended-temperatures.
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
- Contributor: Patti C. Wooten Swanson
[Originally posted on the Healthy Communities Blog]
For the eighth year in a row, the most popular item on holiday wish lists is gift cards. According to a National Retail Federation Survey, 62 percent of those celebrating Christmas, Kwanzaa or Hanukkah in 2014 said gift cards are their most-requested gifts, trumping clothing, books, CDs, DVDs, video games and electronics.
“In the past, gift cards may not have seemed like a very thoughtful gesture,” said Patti Wooten Swanson, consumer sciences advisor with UC Cooperative Extension in San Diego County. “But today, it's what people want.”
Swanson has a Ph.D. in consumer science from Texas Women's University in Denton, Texas. She is the author of a seven-part series of financial caregiving publications and is co-chair of the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Money Talks workgroup, which created a Money Talks website that helps teenagers learn to manage their finances.
Swanson said gift cards are a particularly good deal for retailers. They get the money, and don't have to part with the merchandise until the card is redeemed, if ever. A survey by Consumer Reports found that 10 percent of gift card value typically goes unused. The magazine suggests cash or a check are great alternatives, but Swanson says she still often opts for gift cards.
“Cash can tend to be used for everyday things,” Swanson said. “If I want my dad to enjoy a meal at his favorite restaurant, I would still give a gift card.”
Swanson offers the following suggestions for ensuring successful gift card experiences:
- If you receive a gift card, use it as quickly as possible. If the retailer goes out of business, the card will have no value. Companies can charge a monthly inactivity fee if the card has not be used in 12 months. “Also, it's easy to misplace or forget about the card,” Swanson said.
- Consumers' first choice when selecting gift cards should be those offered by specific retail stores or restaurants, Swanson recommends. “Generally, there are no fees for purchasing them either at the retail outlet, online or at a gift card kiosk in the grocery store,” she said. “The card is valid for at least five years and, by law, no inactivity fees can be charged during the first 12 months.”
- Before buying the gift card, Swanson suggests looking carefully at the back to be sure that the hidden card number that is usually underneath scratch-off ink has not been exposed. “To steal the value on cards, thieves can copy down the hidden code number at the store. After the card is purchased and funded, the thief can use the code for online purchases, making the card worthless for the person who receives the gift,” she said.
- Always include the store receipt in the gift along with the card. If the gift card is lost or stolen, the recipient can call the company to see if it can be replaced.
- Only purchase gift cards from sources you know are reputable. Some websites allow consumers to buy gift cards at a discount and sell unwanted gift cards at an amount below the face value. “You want to be dealing with a known company to be sure you're getting the real thing,” Swanson said. She recommends consumers interested in discounted gift cards instead visit big box retailers like Costco or Sams Club, where packets of gift cards are available at a discount.
Carefully read the conditions attached to bank or credit card company gift cards. They can be used almost anywhere the recipient would like to spend the funds, but most charge a fee to purchase the card and, after 12 months of inactivity, can charge a monthly fee by reducing the balance on the card.
- webmaster: jggonzales@ucanr.edu(Jan Gonzales)
- Author: Ryan Krason
Long before people began virtual farming in Farmville, real farmers were raising crops and livestock in California with the help of UC Cooperative Extension advisors. Today California produces about 400 agricultural commodities with an annual value of about $44 billion.
This year, the University of California is celebrating the 100th anniversary of Cooperative Extension. Part of the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, UC Cooperative Extension is made up of advisors, staff and specialists who, like their counterparts in other states nationwide, bring university knowledge to farmers and families to enhance their health, their business and the environment.
“For the past century, UC Cooperative Extension specialists and advisors have been educating Californians in their communities, at their places of work, and even sometimes at their own homes,” said Barbara Allen-Diaz, UC vice president for Agriculture and Natural Resources. “UC Cooperative Extension's network of researchers and educators continue to work with Californians to address local issues and use science to solve problems.”
It was on May 8, 1914, that President Woodrow Wilson signed into law the Smith-Lever Act, which created Cooperative Extension to help farmers, homemakers and youth apply the latest university research to improve their lives.
At first geared toward rural areas, Cooperative Extension soon became integral to urban and suburban communities as well. California's population has grown from 2.5 million people to 38 million since UC Cooperative Extension began. As California has changed, UC Cooperative Extension has continued to work with residents in their own communities to help them adapt and grow.
San Diego county has 6,687 farms, more than any other county in the United States. 68% of those are between 1-9 acres and though the median size farm is just 4 acres, our county's farmers rank number one in both California and the nation in the production value of nursery, floriculture and avocados.
- Author: Ryan Krason
In the spirit of Earth Day, the UC Master Gardeners recently did a piece with the County of San Diego in which MG Renee Tepper discusses some of the things you can do to evaluate your current gardening practices and offers up suggestions for other things you can do to make your garden a little more earth-friendly and sustainable.
Go to http://www.mastergardenerssandiego.org/sustain/ to take the survey to see if your garden is earth-friendly. It has lots of information and links to improve what you do in your yard.
Please let us know what you think of some of the ideas in this video. Your feedback is much appreciated!
