Rice, food poisoning, and attitudes towards food safety (Was Re: [Sca-cooks] Simple pleasures )

[Isabella di Giovanni]

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My Lord, I do hope I don't step on any toes, but I do agree with you. I am glad you pointed this out about the rice. This is one of the reasons that I read this list every day. Information. It is up to me what I do with it.
I was the co-feastocrat for our Fontaine Defender Tournament, 125 people, last week. Many of you gave me incredible ideas, recipes, help, etc. I went to the feast, scarlet up to my elbows, because of continous washing (myself, counters, implements, etc.). Maybe I went a little overboard, but I, too, hold peoples lives in my hands when I cook for them. My worst possible fear is that I make someone sick with what I cook (except Fergus, and he doesn't get sick, he just gets boored.!) :-)
Rice was one of our side-dishes (two kinds). I am thankful of the treatment we gave it, but hadn't known the dangers. I will be even more careful in the future. Thank you.
Isabella FN di Giovanni - with nicely healed forearms and ready to tackle the next event
 Gorgeous Muiredach wrote:At 10:06 PM 8/7/2002, you wrote:
>really and how many times have hyou been sick from eating
>rice????
>i grew up in the south where rice is the staple carbohydrate..
>cannot remember when anyone had food poisoning from anything let
>alone rice.. you are over reacting.. I cook instant rice in the
>microwave
>at least every other day.. and freeze my rice regularily when I
>happed to do
>the boil in bag. .in 51 yrs I have not been sick..
>
>I think you are overreacting

bella,

With all due respect, it's not because it's never happened to you, or a
bunch of people, that it isn't a health hazard to do it. I eat my
hamburgers blue or rare, when *I* prepare them. I don't believe I've been
sick from it, but I don't recommend anyone do it.

I am not saying not to freeze your rice. I am saying, be careful *how* you
do it.

Perhaps I *am* over reacting.

Quite honestly, it is reactions such as yours that scares me when eating
feast. If we aren't willing to pay attention to something that is stressed
in the food industry, I think we ought to steer clear of cooking for
others. You may not like this, but it remains the truth. Not very long
ago I was saying how one of my pet peeves was the fact that we often forget
that we, as cooks, have people's lifes, or well being, in our hands. The
fact that there is a general ignorance (as in lack of information) on the
part of feast cooks is a fact of life. When someone offers information as
to how to avoid some basic health risks, one would hope they would be taken
seriously.

I cannot stress how important it is to take some basic, yet very important
health and hygiene steps. Keeping food properly out of heat danger zones
is one *key* issue in not making people sick. Rice does develop some
nasties that some other food doesn't. Avraham was kind enough to remind me
the name of it: Bacillus cereus

When I was cooking for 450 kids, and I refused to take delivery of a 5
pound jar of peanut butter, because I knew I had one staff and several
campers that had severe allergies problems, I was told I over
reacted. Later that very same summer, a kid in a nearby camp died from
cross contamination of a knife that had been used for peanut butter, wiped
and passed on. Yeah, it's one in a million chance, and there are/were
other factors at play. But...

I'd rather over react than kill someone. Or make them sick. Or even just
mildly uncomfortable with cramps or whatever. I would *like* to think that
I have never given anyone food poisoning, but quite honestly, I cannot say
that. Food poisoning comes in many ways. cramps, gaz, nausea, diahrea,
vomiting, are some mild symptoms.

There, off of my soapbox now.

Gorgeous Muiredach the Odd
Shire of Forth Castle
Meridies
mka
Nicolas Steenhout
"You must deal with me as I think of myself" J. Hockenberry

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