USDA Makes Effort To Prevent Food-Borne Illness
With summertime quickly approaching, picnics and barbecue’s offer prime opportunities for food-borne illnesses to surface.
Preventing outbreaks will be a huge shift from past strategies which offer response tactics.
Consumers can choose meats last and keep the packages away from other foods.
Avoid putting your hands in your mouth or rubbing your eyes before thoroughly washing your hands.
It is also recommended to carrying an alcohol-based gel or wipes containing a small amount of bleach to clean yourself up after handling a package.
The new direction, which focuses on prevention and faster response times, is a huge improvement over past USDA practices, says Philip M. Tierno Jr., PhD, director of clinical microbiology at NYU Langone Medical Center and clinical professor at the NYU School of Medicine.
“We will likely see a reduction in unnecessary illnesses and possibly the prevention of a [death] or two,” says Tierno, author of The Secret Life of Germs.
Washington, D.C.-based consumer advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest also supports the USDA’s shift in priorities.