So. Right after orientation, during which we got our class schedules and school kit, we realised classes start the very next day, from 9am to 4.30pm. On a Saturday. The topic: Level 2 Food Safety Made Easy (I have no idea what happened to Level 1).
The course was conducted by an external party and at the end of the session, we would be required to sit for an exam that same day. It is essential to pass this course, in order to pass our exams.
Of all days, I decided to try a different route from the tube station to school, and got rather lost that morning, and turned up late for the course. Thankfully, I was only 15 minutes late, and managed to keep up. I turned up just in time to learn about the major types of bacteria that can cause food poisoning.
There is the fairly well-known Salmonella, typically found in raw chicken and raw eggs. I mean, I’ve heard about this, but I’ve been eating cake batter forever. And made my own mayonnaise. And what about Sin Kee Chicken Rice at Margaret Drive (where has it moved to now?) with their ever-so-slightly bloody chicken?
We also learned about Staphyloccus Aureus which is some kind of skin bacteria, E Coli from the intestines of beef cattle apparently (and therefore comes out in human fecal matter), Listeria (I keep thinking Listerine, when I heard this), which comes from dairy, particularly unpasteurized dairy, Campylobacter (Kahm-pie-loh-bek-ter, and not campy-lo-bekter, which was my first reaction), which appears in the intestines of birds, Clostridium and Bacillus Cereus, which are apparently spore-forming bacteria, which can protect themselves under adverse conditions (eg high temperatures), so cooking thoroughly isn’t going to kill them. The horror! And. And And. These are commonly found in cooked rice!!! Well, cooked rice that had been left in the Danger Zone temperature of 5-63 degrees Celsius.
Bacillus Cereus. Most commonly associated with cooked rice.
Rice! I mean really. Repeatedly, during the session, we were told that cooked rice is a high-risk food (along with cooked meats, like chicken). Rice. Seriously. I think all the Asians in the room took issue with that. And then a moment of horror, and a mental note to store cooked rice in the fridge as soon as possible. I mean, my mom used to leave cooked rice in the rice cooker overnight! I told her not to, but she still did. We’re still alive. I think Asians have developed some sort of natural immunity against these bacteria.
So back to contamination, we were told the various ways food can get contaminated by bacteria, and what to do to avoid contamination. There is of course, the sensible, cook your food thoroughly, and when things like beef tartare and medium-rare burgers were raised, the instructor (who is an external instructor), who also works as a food safety consultant to various food establishments, pretty much said, she wasn’t a fan, but understands that restaurants may still insist on serving food this way, and basically it’s all about knowing and trusting the supply source (like not getting diseased meat would be good!).
We were told the importance of cleaning and disinfecting. And also, that the most common cause of food poisoning is cross-contamination, and how that happens. We were told to never store cooked and raw food next to each other. Which sounds like, duh, but sometimes it’s not so obvious, like never store raw food above cooked food in the fridge (does any from Singapore remember that case of food poisoning in Geylang Serai in which a couple of people actually died? ‘Twas the raw cuttlefish sitting on the rack above the rojak gravy and dripping into it that did it: http://www.asiaone.com/Health/Eat%2BRight/Story/A1Story20090415-135347.html).
And more on cross-contamination. Things like washing sponges, kitchen towels and tea towels. All instruments of cross-contamination. And let’s not forget fridge door handles. I was like, OMG, my entire kitchen back home is a hotbed for breeding bacteria. It’s a wonder I’ve not killed or poisoned anyone yet.
All in all, rather educational, if somewhat alarming session. In any case, I HAVE to pass this test to pass my course. And I’m super paranoid now about washing my hands (I have peasant’s hands from all the washing!), and not storing food in the fridge. So definitely some of it stuck.
I’m still a bit distressed about the rice though.
elceebee 