How to Safely Store Your Leftovers – Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta

‘Hey there, welcome to Paging Dr. Gupta, and blissful holidays. You know, that is the place the place I get to hear your well being questions, present you some solutions. If you’ve got ever had a gnawing well being concern, you’ve got come to the fitting place. We’re gonna do our greatest to pay attention to your actual-life questions and supply the perfect solutions we are able to. Jesse is with us right this moment. Who do we now have first?

Hey Sanjay, and blissful Thanksgiving. First on deck, we now have a query about hand washing from Maria in Texas.

Hey Sanjay, my identify is Maria and I’m 40 years previous. I’m calling from Texas. I’ve been listening to your podcast for just a few years now and I not too long ago moved in with my fiance and he doesn’t wash his arms with heat soapy water for 20 seconds. His thought of washing his arms is a normal rinse with no matter water comes out of the tap on the time for most likely about 5 seconds. And as you would possibly have the opportunity to inform, it is form of led to just a few heated discussions between us. I’ve been making an attempt to get him to actually listen to the issues that he touches after he handles uncooked meat and issues like that and have him wash his arms a bit bit higher however he says that it is probably not needed so simply needed to choose your mind on that. I hope you might have an important day.

‘Okay, hello Maria, and hello Maria’s fiancé. First issues first, I’m not one to get in the midst of home discussions, if you’ll. But I do thanks for the query. I believe it is an necessary query. I’m blissful to soar in and attempt to get to the underside of this, we’ll do this proper after the break. Ok Maria, the query mainly is how lengthy must you wash your arms and in the event you ought to use cleaning soap, particularly after dealing with uncooked meat. Look, the underside line is it’s best to at all times scrub your arms with cleaning soap for 20 seconds, particularly after you are dealing with uncooked meat. That’s the headline. But let me offer you a bit little bit of the why behind the what. According to the USDA, what I believe is necessary to keep in mind is that a number of the pathogens that may be on uncooked meat, salmonella for instance, they’ll stay on surfaces for 32 hours, if not correctly sanitized. That’s a very long time, so something you contact after dealing with uncooked meat may thus be contaminated with foodborne sickness inflicting micro organism, as a result of it may survive for a very long time, after which cross-contamination can happen. So for instance, if you have not washed your arms after dealing with uncooked meat, you choose up a chunk of fruit, you eat it, out of the blue that would doubtlessly make you sick. Now, so far as the significance of utilizing cleaning soap, I believe most individuals perceive this, however cleaning soap alongside with friction assist raise grime, grease, microbes, together with illness inflicting germs out of your pores and skin in order that it may be rinsed out of your arms. Now, I’ll say rinsing the cleaning soap away is admittedly necessary as a result of the pathogens would possibly really be inside that soapy, suddy combine in your arms, so you actually wanna be sure to’re rinsing all that cleaning soap away, and it’ll additionally reduce pores and skin irritation. If you do not have entry to cleaning soap and clear water to wash your arms, use a hand sanitizer and search for one which comprises no less than 60% alcohol. But once more, when working within the kitchen, greatest to wash arms with cleaning soap and water. Now since we’re on the subject, simply a few fundamentals of hand washing. You know this, however moist your arms with clear working water, flip off the water, apply cleaning soap, lather your arms collectively by rubbing them collectively with cleaning soap. People typically neglect to wash their thumbs, get between your fingers, underneath your nails, the again of your arms as properly. 20 seconds. You do not want a timer. Just hum the blissful birthday music twice from starting to finish, after which rinse your arms properly, once more underneath clear working water. Dry your arms utilizing a clear towel or air dry them. I understand most individuals know this, however it’s value repeating from time to time as a result of we do get a shocking variety of questions on hand washing. Why 20 seconds? Well, scrubbing your arms for no less than 20 seconds removes extra of the germs out of your arms than washing for shorter durations. And on the similar time, washing longer than that does not actually provide a lot in the way in which of incremental profit. And whereas we’re busting some meals security myths, let’s do yet one more. Many folks wash their uncooked meat earlier than cooking it, both as a result of it is only a behavior otherwise you’ve seen a member of the family at all times do this. But, USDA has discovered that washing meat will increase the danger of cross-contamination within the kitchen. Again, I’m gonna repeat that. Washing the uncooked meat forward of time will increase the dangers of cross-contamination within the kitchens and that may trigger meals-borne sickness. So in the event you’re rinsing the uncooked meat, some micro organism is likely to be splashed on surfaces of your kitchen and that would make you sick if not correctly cleaned and sanitized. Never use cleaning soap or detergent in your meat or poultry. Obviously, that’ll contaminate your meals with chemical substances, making it unsafe to eat. Maria, I hope that helps. I hope you and your fiance can cease wringing your arms over this washing controversy. See what I did there? In all seriousness, let’s be certain we spend the time correctly washing our arms, particularly after dealing with uncooked meat, in order that we are able to spend extra time with our households this vacation season, blissful and wholesome. Now, so far as all these Thanksgiving leftovers, stick round. After the break, we’re gonna revisit a typical meals security fantasy about storing cold and warm meals. Okay, we’re again. To be sure to’re set to safely retailer meals throughout Thanksgiving break, we’re going to rewind again to a previous episode for this subsequent query.

Hey Sanjay, that is John. I simply completed listening to your Our Food Keeps Getting Recalled episode and I had a query. My spouse and her household have a tendency to suppose that when meals is cooked and heat on the range that it has to be unnoticed till it is cool to the contact earlier than it may be put into the fridge. Otherwise it’d develop some micro organism or sickness. And I simply needed to know, is that legitimate? It looks as if it is extra harmful to depart it out than it’s to put it away. So I simply needed to affirm and or deny, is it efficient to depart meals out when it is sizzling or heat earlier than placing it into the fridge, permitting it time to calm down? Thank you. I like the present. Take care.

‘All proper, John, to begin with, an important query. I’ve to inform you, after that podcast aired in November of final 12 months, we received quite a lot of questions and so much feedback about meals remembers general and the easiest way to retailer your meals. So let me reply the query straight after which I’ll offer you a bit little bit of background. First of all this can be a frequent meals security fantasy, however on the similar time it is one thing that so much folks debate. According to the Food and Drug Administration, the FDA, It is secure to transfer even piping sizzling meals straight to the fridge, okay? So that is the reply. You can transfer very popular meals to the fridge. You do need to just remember to’re not overpacking within the container and that there is sufficient area inside the container for chilly air to flow into round it. The key concern just isn’t the warmth itself, however stopping bacterial progress. You mustn’t let meals sit out for greater than two hours. That’s the overall rule. Because at room temperature, micro organism can multiply shortly. They say each 20 minutes, the variety of micro organism can double. So leaving meals out for too lengthy offers micro organism a primary alternative to develop and will increase the danger of foodborne sickness. Keep in thoughts, quite a lot of the foodborne sicknesses, as a lot as we speak in regards to the grocery shops and eating places, a lotta them happen at dwelling as properly. So the place did this concept come about that it’s best to let your meals cool first earlier than placing within the fridge? Well, it is really a relic of the nineteenth century. This is when folks used ice packing containers as a substitute of contemporary fridges. These picket metallic-lined packing containers relied on massive blocks of ice to maintain the meals cool. If you place sizzling meals inside, you’d merely soften the ice quicker and that meant you had to change it extra typically, which wasn’t low cost. But right this moment’s fridges, they received chemical refrigerants, they have evaporator followers, they’ll deal with sizzling meals. Much extra effectively. By the way in which, there’s an important place to examine this. It’s referred to as Refrigerator, The Story of Cool within the Kitchen from Helen Peavitt. P-E-A-V-I-T-T. If you are on this, it’s best to check out her work. Now, I believe the true subject, although, comes about in the event you retailer a considerable amount of sizzling meals, like a whole pot of soup, for instance, in a single container, if it takes longer than two hours to cool earlier than 40 levels, micro organism can nonetheless thrive. So to forestall that, possibly divide massive parts of the recent meals into smaller, shallower containers. That’ll assist them cool quicker. If attainable, cowl them solely loosely at first. Let a number of the steam escape earlier than sealing tight. And do maintain your fridge at 40 levels or decrease for optimum meals security. One factor I will even level out, keep away from placing sizzling meals straight into plastic containers as a result of the warmth may cause them to leach dangerous chemical substances. Glass containers, on this case, can be a safer possibility. And in the event you plan to freeze sizzling meals, let it cool within the fridge first earlier than transferring it to the freezer. That can assist keep the standard of the meals for whenever you go to reheat your leftovers. So John, you do not want to wait, is the reply on your meals to cool utterly down earlier than refrigerating it. The key’s to not leaving it out for greater than two hours. The faster you may get it into the fridge, the safer it will likely be. Great query, I hope that clears issues up. Well, that is all we now have for right this moment’s episode. This Thanksgiving, I simply need to say I’m grateful. I’m grateful for all of you and for all of the belief and all of the well being questions, considerations, feedback. You share elements of your life with us and we actually take it critically. I don’t take this as a right. If you or your loved ones have questions, I need to know. Record a voice memo, electronic mail it to [email protected] site or give us a name: 470-396-0832. Leave a message. Thanks for listening, and I’ll be again subsequent Tuesday.