bite my words

Dispelling nutrition myths, ranting, and occasionally, raving

Tag Archives: food safety


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Lead in rice

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The latest worry in the food supply: lead in imported rice. Recent findings by Dr. Tsanangurayi Tongesayi and colleagues at Monmouth University found levels ranging from 6-12 mg/kg in rice imported to the US from Czech Republic, Bhutan, Italy, India, Thailand, with Taiwan and China containing the highest levels of lead.

The Codex Alimentarius from the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recommends no more than 0.025 mg/kg of body weight (this is based on weekly intake). These limits are especially important for infants (and babies in utero) as they are most susceptible to obvious negative effects from consumption of lead. Even very low levels of lead exposure can be detrimental to intellectual development, growth, behaviour, and hearing.

These findings provide increased incentive for mothers introducing solids to provide other sources of iron-rich foods (such as eggs, meat, legumes, and tofu) than iron-fortified rice cereal if the source of the rice is unknown. They also provide additional support for the message that us dietitians are always pushing: variety is an essential component of a healthy diet. As many people turn to a gluten-free diet they are likely to be consuming increased quantities of rice and rice-based products. Excess lead or not, excessive reliance on one type of grain is not a good foundation for a healthy diet.


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Will there be KD in the nanny state?

I have mixed feelings about the petition by a couple of food bloggers in the US for Kraft to remove the food dyes (yellow #5 and yellow #6) from their ubiquitous Kraft Dinner.

Initially, I was going to write a post about how frivolous I think the petition is. How removing food dyes from KD is not going to make it any less nutritionally void. You know, play devil’s advocate, ruffle a few feathers, because that’s what I like to do. While I do believe this to be true, and a part of me thinks that advocacy efforts could be put to much better use, I do also see some merit in their efforts. Realistically, people are not going to stop eating Kraft Dinner, or feeding it to their children. And you know, as an occasional treat that shouldn’t be a big deal.

Why does Kraft Dinner in the UK (and some other European countries) use natural food colourings rather than the artificial yellows used in Canada and the US? This is because their governments have decided to err on the side of caution. Where there is indication that a small number of individuals suffer allergic reactions from exposure to these colourings, and there is insufficient research to determine whether or not these dyes may have harmful long-term effects (such as being carcinogens) instead of allowing the population to unwittingly assume the risks they have taken steps to protect their citizens by banning these dyes. I’m all for that sort of initiative on the part of government. Oh sure, some of you might say that it’s a nanny state, we should be allowed to have our unnaturally brilliantly coloured nutritionally void food if we want to. You know me though, I like a good old nanny state if it’s going to be looking out for my better interests.

Sadly, our governments (in Canada and the US) are far more concerned with pandas and drones than the safety of our food supply. And that’s where efforts such as those by the bloggers become worthwhile. Yes, we should continue to put pressure on our governments to better regulate food additives, in the meantime if we can convince food manufactures to voluntarily remove these dyes from the foods they make then that’s a positive step in the right direction. So, while KD would not necessarily have been my first choice of food to target, if the formulation of this product is changed then hopefully the formulation of others will follow suit.

For more information on food dyes check out the report: Food Dyes a Rainbow of Risks by CSPI.


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Keeping cool: Foods to refrigerate

I thought that it would be fitting to follow-up yesterday’s post with information on a few foods that should be refrigerated, but often aren’t:

  • Peanut butter – this applies to natural peanut butter, and other nut and seed butters such as almond butter and tahini, after opening. 
  • Nuts and seeds – this includes milled flax seed. You can keep these in either the fridge or the freezer. Because of their high unsaturated fat content they’ll go rancid more quickly if stored at room temperature and/or in light. Nut and seed oils such as sesame oil and walnut oil should also be refrigerated after opening. Olive oil should be stored in a cool, dark place but doesn’t need to be refrigerated unless you go through it very slowly.
  • Maple syrup – despite the high sugar content, opened maple syrup is susceptible to mould growth if not stored in the fridge. The same applies to jam and molasses.
  • Eggs – If you’ve ever been to England (or many other countries outside of North America) you may have noticed that they don’t refrigerate their eggs. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that you can store your eggs on the countertop in Canada or the US. Because our eggs are power washed before they’re sold the porous shell becomes exposed and susceptible to contamination so, unless you’re buying unwashed eggs directly from a farmer (or have your own laying hens) you’ll need to keep your eggs in the fridge.

Where you store items in your fridge is another issue. Make sure that foods that are most likely to go “off” are stored towards the back (e.g. milk, butter, meat, tofu). Keep condiments and beverages that are less susceptible to deterioration or contamination on the door. Store meat, fish, and poultry on the bottom shelf to ensure that their juices don’t drip down and contaminate other foods. Keep fruit and vegetables in separate drawers as the gases emitted by some fruits can be detrimental to the flavour and lifespan of your vegetables.

Ideally, you should keep a thermometer in your fridge and ensure that the temperature never exceeds 4C.


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Food safety: Infused oil

I was recently asked to write about the safety of flavour infused olive oils. Yes, they are delicious and yes, you can make them at home, but, you need to be really careful as there is a risk of botulism. First, make sure that you sterilize the jar(s) in which you plan to keep your oil. You can do this by boiling them as you would for canning. Next is the really important thing, make sure that they’re completely dry before adding your oil. There are different ways to infuse the oil itself. You can do so in the same jar in which you plan to store the oil by heating it or you can heat the oil and substance you’re using for infusing over a low heat. This post isn’t intended to be a lesson in infusing your olive oil though so I won’t get into details. Besides making sure that your jar is completely dry you must also make sure that the food/herb/spice you are using to infuse the oil is also completely dry. Botulism can’t grow on the oil itself but no matter how clean and careful you are, if there is any water in the oil, botulism can grow on that. Ideally, you should store the infused oil in the fridge. For more tips on infusing olive oil check out this website.


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Food poisoning: the manly way to get sick

Now that summer’s finally here I thought I’d give you all a little refresher course on food safety. This will probably be old news to most of you, but maybe not… I was recently asked, “Do you think this sandwich is safe for me to eat?” It was a deli meat sandwich, turkey I believe, that had been unrefrigerated all day. I said, “No!”. This prompted a discussion in which it was implied that eating said sandwich would be the manly decision. Really?? Why the heck is risking food poisoning manly? Unless manly is now synonymous with foolhardy hmm… Anyway, I digress.

It’s important to keep foods at safe temperatures to inhibit microbial growth. That means the aforementioned sandwich should have been stored at 4C, or cooler. And once it was at room temperature it should have been eaten within two hours. After two hours in the “danger zone” you’re at increased risk for food poisoning. The foods that pose the greatest risks are moist, high-protein foods. Things like meat, poultry, fish, tofu, eggs, and cheese.

I could go on and on about food safety. There’s lots more to it than simply keeping cold foods cold and hot foods hot, but those are two of the key tips, especially at this time of year when picnics and BBQs are commonplace.

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