60 Fun Facts About Food Safety

Food-safety agencies define the bacterial 'danger zone' as roughly what temperature range?

Growth is fastest in the middle of the range, between about 21 and 47 °C.

Perishable food left in the danger zone for longer than how many hours should be thrown out?

The window drops to one hour when the air temperature is above 32 °C (90 °F).

What is the maximum temperature at which a home refrigerator should be kept, according to US guidance?

The freezer should sit at 0 °F or below; an appliance thermometer is the only way to be sure.

To what internal temperature should poultry be cooked to be considered safe?

Insert the probe into the thickest part of the thigh without touching bone, which conducts heat and reads high.

Ground beef, lamb, veal and pork should reach what internal temperature?

Grinding spreads surface bacteria through the whole batch, which is why burgers need to be hotter than steaks.

Where should the tip of a meat thermometer probe go?

Bone conducts heat and gives an overestimate; fat and cartilage mislead too.

According to the WHO, foodborne pathogens cause roughly how many cases of illness a year worldwide?

They also cause an estimated 420,000 deaths a year.

The US CDC estimates how many foodborne illnesses occur in the United States each year?

That comes with about 128,000 hospitalisations and 3,000 deaths.

Roughly what share of US foodborne illness is caused by norovirus, the leading culprit?

It is the 'winter vomiting bug', and as few as ten virus particles can infect a person.

Norovirus takes its name from an outbreak in 1968 at an elementary school in which Ohio town?

It was first called the 'Norwalk agent' before electron microscopy identified the virus in 1972.

Why do alcohol-based hand sanitisers tend not to work against norovirus?

Soap, water and 20 seconds of scrubbing remain the reliable defence.

Which two categories of food are most often implicated in norovirus outbreaks?

Oysters filter the virus out of contaminated water; salads are handled raw by many hands.

What is the most common cause of food poisoning worldwide?

Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli and Listeria are the big names.

Salmonella bacteria are named after which American veterinary surgeon?

His assistant Theobald Smith actually made the discovery, but the boss's name stuck.

Symptoms of salmonellosis usually begin how long after infection?

Meat, eggs, water and milk are the usual carriers, along with pet reptiles.

Heating food to what internal temperature is recommended to protect against Salmonella?

Typhoid fever is caused by a typhoidal strain that enters the bloodstream.

Why does the USDA say to refrigerate eggs, which Europeans happily leave on the counter?

In the UK, hens are also immunised against Salmonella, so eggs are considered safe for around 21 days.

Which foodborne bacterium is unusual in multiplying at fridge temperatures, as low as 0 °C?

It is named after Joseph Lister and is especially dangerous in pregnancy.

Pregnant women are advised to avoid soft cheeses such as Brie and feta because of which bacterium?

Infection can cause miscarriage or stillbirth, and 20 to 30 percent of cases in high-risk people are fatal.

Raw poultry is the major source of which bacterium, a leading cause of gastroenteritis worldwide?

Its name means 'curved rod', and infection is the most common trigger of Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Campylobacter infection from undercooked chicken is the most common trigger of which paralysing nerve disorder?

Most cases of the disorder are still mild, but the link is well established.

The 1992-93 E. coli outbreak that killed four children was traced to undercooked beef patties from which chain?

It transformed US meat regulation and made 'cook burgers through' a national rule.

E. coli O157:H7 was first recognised as a human pathogen after a 1982 outbreak in which two US states?

Between two and seven percent of infections progress to haemolytic-uraemic syndrome, which attacks the kidneys.

Botulism is caused by a toxin from which bacterium?

The name comes from the Latin botulus, 'sausage', after 19th-century outbreaks linked to cured meat.

Honey should not be fed to children under what age because it can contain botulism spores?

An infant's gut cannot yet stop the spores germinating.

Foodborne botulism has most often resulted from home-canned foods with what characteristic?

Green beans, corn, beets and asparagus are classic culprits; the bacterium thrives without oxygen.

The word 'botulism' comes from the Latin word for what?

Early cases in Germany were traced to blood sausage.

'Fried rice syndrome' is the nickname for poisoning by which spore-forming bacterium?

Rice cooked too briefly to kill spores and then left unrefrigerated is the classic cause.

Toxins from Staphylococcus aureus in food left out too long produce symptoms after how long?

The bacteria come from human skin and noses, which is why handwashing matters so much.

Aflatoxins, among the most carcinogenic substances known, are produced by which type of organism?

Aspergillus species grow on peanuts, maize and tree nuts, and the toxin targets the liver.

Aflatoxin was discovered after a mysterious 1960 outbreak in England among which animals?

'Turkey X disease' killed around 100,000 birds fed on contaminated peanut meal.

What happens to the toxin behind ciguatera poisoning when the reef fish is cooked?

A telltale symptom is a reversal of hot and cold sensation.

Japanese fugu chefs have needed a licence since 1958; roughly how long is the apprenticeship?

The pufferfish carries tetrodotoxin in its liver, ovaries, eyes and skin.

Trichinosis, why pork was long cooked well done, is caused by what kind of organism?

In North America, wild game such as bear meat overtook pork as the main source in the late 20th century.

HACCP was developed in the early 1960s by Pillsbury, the US Army and which agency?

The goal was food that would not make astronauts sick in space; the system was codified into seven principles by 1997.

How many principles make up the HACCP system?

They became the standard by 1997; the acronym stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point.

The Codex Alimentarius food standards were published in 1963 by the WHO and which other UN body?

The Latin name means 'food code'.

Which ISO standard covers food safety management systems?

It was first published in 2005 and is built around HACCP principles.

Which 1906 novel about Chicago's meatpacking plants prompted the Pure Food and Drug Act?

Upton Sinclair said he had aimed at the public's heart and by accident hit it in the stomach.

Which US president signed the Pure Food and Drug Act into law in June 1906?

The agency it created was renamed the Food and Drug Administration in 1930.

Which US department is the FDA part of?

Meat, poultry and processed egg products are inspected by the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service instead.

Meat, poultry and processed egg products in the US are inspected by an arm of which department?

The FDA handles most other foods and publishes the model Food Code used by state and local inspectors.

A 2003 WHO report found roughly what share of European food-poisoning outbreaks happen in private homes?

Restaurants get the headlines, but kitchens at home are a major source.

Pasteur's 1860s research showed heat could deactivate microorganisms in what?

Milk pasteurisation came later and now protects against tuberculosis, brucellosis, Listeria and E. coli.

High-temperature short-time (HTST) milk pasteurisation heats milk to about 72 °C for how long?

Batch pasteurisation instead uses 63 °C for 30 minutes; UHT milk is blasted at 135 °C for a second or two.

Ultra-high-temperature (UHT) processing sterilises milk at roughly what temperature?

It lasts only one or two seconds, which is why the milk keeps for months unopened.

Which Frenchman won a 12,000-franc prize for inventing airtight preservation in glass jars?

The French army had offered the prize in 1795; Peter Durand patented the tin can the same year Appert published, 1810.

'Typhoid Mary' Mallon, an asymptomatic carrier of typhoid, spread the disease through what job?

She is thought to have infected up to 57 people and was quarantined on North Brother Island for decades.

According to the CDC, how long should you scrub your hands with soap for effective handwashing?

Global Handwashing Day is marked every 15 October.

Which Hungarian obstetrician showed in 1847 that handwashing prevented maternity-ward deaths?

His colleagues largely ignored him, and he died in an asylum before germ theory vindicated him.

On which date is Global Handwashing Day observed every year?

World Food Safety Day falls on 7 June.

How many 'keys to safer food' does the World Health Organization list?

The others cover separating raw and cooked, cooking thoroughly, safe temperatures and safe water and raw materials.

Which allergen in a sandwich caused the death that led to the UK's 'Natasha's Law'?

The law requires foods pre-packed on premises for direct sale to carry full individual ingredient labelling.

The 2011 US Food Safety Modernization Act shifted the FDA's focus from outbreak response to what?

It was called the most significant US food safety legislation in over 70 years and gave the FDA authority over how foods are grown, processed and harvested.

Which products are the only ones US federal law requires to carry an expiration date?

For everything else, freshness dating such as 'SELL BY' or 'BEST IF USED BY' is voluntary, and most adults do not understand what the terms mean.

Which independent government body polices hygiene in England, Wales and Northern Ireland?

Scotland has its own regulator, Food Standards Scotland; since 2006 every UK food business must keep a documented HACCP-based safety management system.

In which town was Louis Pasteur on holiday in 1864 when he worked out how to keep wine from souring?

He found that heating young wine to just 50-60 °C briefly killed the microbes without ruining its ageing; milk would not be treated the same way for years.

Which chemist and health commissioner made milk pasteurisation mandatory in New York City in 1910?

In 1892 he had inoculated guinea pigs with milk from tuberculous cows and shown they caught the disease.

Roughly how many died of tuberculosis from milk in England and Wales between 1912 and 1937?

Because tuberculosis has a long incubation period, linking the disease to unpasteurised milk took decades.

Per the CDC, mishandled raw milk causes nearly three times more of what than any other food?

Pasteurisation prevents tuberculosis, brucellosis, diphtheria, scarlet fever and Q-fever, and kills Salmonella, Listeria and E. coli O157:H7 among others.