Ages & Stages - December 2011

All Choked Up
Holiday Buffets

Kiki Bochi and Southwestern Medical Center

Keep your kids from getting All Choked Up

compiled by Kiki Bochi

Choking remains a very common cause of injury and death in children under age 5, and babies are at particular risk. However, while most people associate choking with young children putting toys and small objects in their mouths, the majority of choking incidents actually involve food.
“If a toy were too small, it would be pulled off the shelves, but there is no surveillance mechanism to monitor choking hazards in food,” says Gary A. Smith, M.D., of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which is spearheading a national campaign to raise awareness about the issue.

You probably already know not to give your little ones small, smooth foods like peanuts, hard candy or hot dogs cut in circles.

To further reduce the risk to the children in your life, consider this advice from the AAP and the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery:
• Children should always be seated when eating. Make sure they do not eat when standing, walking, running, playing, lying down, or riding in vehicles. If they laugh, stumble or get scared, they may gasp and choke on large pieces of food.
• Your attention is required. Children at this age require increased supervision when eating because they are easily distracted and may not pay full attention to the task of eating. Teach your child to chew thoroughly and swallow before talking or laughing.
• Remember a choking child may not make any noise, so adults must keep their eyes on children who are eating at all times.
• Watch your child for signs of “squirreling” several pieces of food in their mouth. This increases the risk of choking.
• Never allow children to play games that involve catching food in their mouths or stuffing large numbers or amounts of food in their mouths. That’s just inviting disaster.
• Don’t give young children foods that must be chewed with a grinding motion, such as raw vegetables. Children don’t master that kind of chewing until age four, so they may attempt to swallow the food whole. Cut or break food into bite-sized pieces and cook vegetables so that they are soft.
• Shape is critical. Cut foods such as grapes and other fruits, meat, cheese, and raw vegetables into small pieces and shapes that can’t get wedged in the airway, thus blocking it. Cut hot dogs lengthwise as well as widthwise.
• Beware of sticky foods such as peanut butter or popcorn that can get stuck in a child’s airway.
• Offer plenty of liquids to children when eating, but make sure liquids and solids are not swallowed at the same time.
• Don’t forget that certain objects also have been associated with choking, including uninflated or broken balloons, baby powder, items from the trash (e.g., eggshells, tops from beverage cans and bottles), safety pins, coins, marbles, small balls, pen or marker caps, and small button-type batteries.
• Because there is no way to prevent every accident, make sure you and your child’s other caregivers are trained in infant and child CPR.

How to STAY SAFE with holiday or party buffets

Common Symptoms

Staphylococcus aureus
Staphylococcus (“staph”) bacteria are found on our skin, in infected cuts and pimples, and in our noses and throats. They are spread by improper food handling. Prevention includes washing hands and utensils before preparing and handling foods and not letting prepared foods — particularly cooked and cured meats and cheese and meat salads — sit at room temperature more than two hours. Thorough cooking destroys “staph” bacteria but staphylococcal enterotoxin is resistant to heat, refrigeration and freezing.

Clostridium perfringens
“Perfringens” is called the “cafeteria germ” because it may be found in foods served in quantity and left for long periods of time on inadequately maintained steam tables or at room temperature. Prevention is to divide large portions of cooked foods such as beef, turkey, gravy, dressing, stews and casseroles into smaller portions for serving and cooling. Keep cooked foods hot or cold, not lukewarm.

Listeria monocytogenes
Because Listeria bacteria multiply, although slowly, at refrigeration temperatures, these bacteria can be found in cold foods typically served on buffets. To avoid serving foods containing Listeria, follow “keep refrigerated” label directions and carefully observe “sell by” and “use by” dates on processed products, and thoroughly reheat frozen or refrigerated processed meat and poultry products before consumption.

Source: www.fsis.usda.gov.

A popular way to celebrate the holidays or any party occasion is to invite friends and family to a buffet. However, this type of food service where foods are left out for long periods leave the door open for uninvited guests — bacteria that cause foodborne illness. Festive times for giving and sharing should not include sharing foodborne illness. Here are some tips from the USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline to help you have a SAFE holiday party.

Safe Food Handling
Always wash your hands before and after handling food. Keep your kitchen, dishes and utensils clean also. Always serve food on clean plates — not those previously holding raw meat and poultry. Otherwise, bacteria which may have been present in raw meat juices can cross contaminate the food to be served.

Cook Thoroughly
If you are cooking foods ahead of time for your party, be sure to cook foods thoroughly to safe minimum internal temperatures.
• Cook all raw beef, pork, lamb and veal steaks, chops, and roasts to a minimum internal temperature of 145 °F as measured with a food thermometer before removing meat from the heat source. For safety and quality, allow meat to rest for at least three minutes before carving or consuming. For reasons of personal preference, consumers may choose to cook meat to higher temperatures.
• Cook all raw ground beef, pork, lamb, and veal to an internal temperature of 160 °F as measured with a food thermometer.
• Cook all poultry to a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F as measured with a food thermometer.

Use Shallow Containers
Divide cooked foods into shallow containers to store in the refrigerator or freezer until serving. This encourages rapid, even cooling. Reheat hot foods to 165 °F. Arrange and serve food on several small platters rather than on one large platter. Keep the rest of the food hot in the oven (set at 200-250 °F) or cold in the refrigerator until serving time. This way foods will be held at a safe temperature for a longer period of time. REPLACE empty platters rather than adding fresh food to a dish that already had food in it. Many people’s hands may have been taking food from the dish, which has also been sitting out at room temperature.

The Two-Hour Rule
Foods should not sit at room temperature for more than two hours. Keep track of how long foods have been sitting on the buffet table and discard anything there two hours or more.

Keep Hot Foods HOT and Cold Foods COLD
Hot foods should be held at 140 °F or warmer. On the buffet table you can keep hot foods hot with chafing dishes, slow cookers, and warming trays. Cold foods should be held at 40 °F or colder. Keep foods cold by nesting dishes in bowls of ice. Otherwise, use small serving trays and replace them.

Foodborne Bacteria
Bacteria are everywhere but a few types especially like to crash parties. Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium perfringens and Listeria monocytogenes frequent people’s hands and steam tables. And unlike microorganisms that cause food to spoil, harmful or pathogenic bacteria cannot be smelled or tasted. Prevention is safe food handling.

If illness occurs, however, contact a health professional and describe the symptoms.

This article appears in the December 2011 issue of Red River Family

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