sundance says: Food-borne illness bacteria (listeria, salmonella, e-coli, shigella, etc) need three things to grow exponentially and become dangerous at a toxic level: Moisture, Warmth and time. With a potato the bacterium are almost always present on the rind, or skin. The contamination begins as all food borne contamination does —> in the field (dirt), in the fertilizer (manure etc), and in the water supply (irrigation). Potatoes are a roughly handled crop because they can survive rough handling easily. Think about how potatoes are mostly prepared/cooked both at home and in restaurants’, but mostly in restaurants’? Remember “the rind” has the bacteria. A fork (or similar) is used to puncture the potato. Thereby pushing the bacteria from skin into the center. The Potato is then heated (cooked), but rarely is an internal probe used to insure the center of the potato reaches 150′ – 160′ degrees. The bacteria survive cooking and then the potato is placed into a warming tray, a holding tray. The bacteria are inside a warm moist environment. Growing steadily. In restaurants’ the first job of the day is to cook the baked potatoes for the entire lunch/dinner service. This is not given too much attention and is usually given as a job to the entry level cook help. The potatoes will sit in this holding tray for hours, as they await service. All the while the bacterium are growing, nice and comfy. The meal is served, and sometime later, usually at home the consumer gets sick. Food-borne illness type sick which is usually within 24 hours and presents as: Nausea, stomach ache, diarrhea, vomiting, headache, fatigue etc. The consumer thinks about what they ate, however they usually think in terms of the chicken, or the fish, or the meat, and rarely think about the potato (or the salad) for the reasons you articulate. Potatoes are the #1 routine cause of food-borne illness – yet rarely attributed as such.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Aug 2013 03:24:17 +0000
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