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[longers]

How about a jar of Seafood Cocktail in Sunflower Oil that went out of date in May?

Squid, octopus, cuttlefish, mussels, prawns and cockles in variable proportions.
There is a bit of vinegar in there as well apparently.

 

[lukesdad]

Shellfish particularly moluscs are another dodgy one as the feed by filtering.So not only food poisoning bacteria is a problem but also chemical contamination. Leave fresh shellfish alone in hot summer months.

 

[Fab Foodie]

All food poisoning bacteria need 3 essentials to multiply time temp and moisture remove one and you reduce the risk. On average they reproduce every 20 mins. As FF has allready stated spores (bacteria in jackets if you like) and toxins cannot be destroyed by boiling. So to be safe here you need to remove one essential other than temp.

This is why rice for example needs to be cooled very quickly if it is to be reheated (not something Id advise).

Along with rice, poultry is dodgy as it is closely associated with salmonela.

Fresh fish is probably as safe as anything, as long as it has not been cross contaminated by either another foodstuff or humans.

Cross contamination is by far the most common form of food poisoning in the U.K.

Agreed.
The real need here is being able to either keep food hot enough that bacteria can't grow (multiply) or cool it down quickly enough to a cold temperature where they can't grow. It's the nice warm environment in between that is dangerous.
Buffet food can be a hazard as often it sits around for a long-time at a warm enough temperature. Sausage rolls, Vol-Au-Vents should be fine and safe straight from the oven but should be quickly cooled, leaving them out in a warm room for a while could spell disaster if they become cross contaminated whilst other buffet items are being prepared.
Home-made soups, curries, stews etc. should all be cooled quickly if you intend to reheat them.
Also remember there are 2 types of food poisoning bacteria, those that infect and those that intoxicate. Salmonella and E.coli for instance are infectious, i.e you need to eat them alive and in quite high numbers, once growing inside you they make you ill, fortunately they don't grow in the cold and are easily killed by heating. The B.cereus in rice, and C. botulinum in cans are both heat resistant and produce toxins in the food when they grow, so although you may kill the bacteria by reheating, the toxins remain. Such toxins are very powerful and only small amounts are required for acute food poisoning, or with Botulism, death.

Some good info here...
http://www.northdevon.gov.uk/index/...giene_and_safety/nonlgcl_food_safety_tips.htm

 

[lukesdad]

Squid, octopus, cuttlefish, mussels, prawns and cockles in variable proportions.
There is a bit of vinegar in there as well apparently.

The date is there for a reason. Are youparticularly attatched to this jar of seafood cocktail.

 

[longers]

The date is there for a reason. Are youparticularly attatched to this jar of seafood cocktail.

Oddly I am actually, it was a present . I had big plans for a paella or a gumbo sort of thing.

Reading FF's post I need to cool my soups, curries and stews better! A big pan full is usually cooked one day and left until the following day to be divvied up.

 

[lukesdad]

FF s spot on about cooling. The best way to cool these items (if you dont have a blast chiller) Is to split it down into small amounts make sure the containers get plenty of cool air circulating around them,on a cooling rack is a good way.

Whatever you do dont put warm food into a fridge or freezer.

I ll also add custard and gravy to FF s list.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Oddly I am actually, it was a present . I had big plans for a paella or a gumbo sort of thing.

Reading FF's post I need to cool my soups, curries and stews better! A big pan full is usually cooked one day and left until the following day to be divvied up.

Tend to cook this stuff up in a Le Crueset or Stock pot. Fill the sink with cold water and place the hot pot in there for 10 mins. Replace the (now) warm water with cold etc and repeat untill it feels fairly cool. Doesn't take long. Then pop in the fridge. At this time of year a cold garage can be pretty useful cooling spot too!

Or divvy-up when hot as Lukesdad says and allow to cool in smaller portions. Ideal if like us we freeze a lot of portions.

Oh, and I'd bin the seafood jar too. I doubt it contains anything harmful unless the seal has gone, but it will in all likelyhood degraded chemically, sunflower oil probably going a bit rancid, textures softening etc. I doubt it would be very nice. BTW, was it a USE BY or a BEST BEFORE date, there's a subtle difference.

 

[longers]

Yep, will do it better from now on.

The last and worst case of food poisoning I've given myself was a few years ago and came from cooking a gammon on a tinfoiled grill pan I hadn't cleaned after cooking swordfish on a couple of days before Luckily it was only me that was ill.

 

[lukesdad]

Longers you need to sharpen up your act before you invite anyone to dinner me thinks.

 

[jonesy]

Interesting topic. My wife has been told that things that have a mixture of vegetables and meat are less safe if kept and reheated than things that only have meat, e.g. a stock that's been boiled. Is there likely to be any basis for this?

 

[lukesdad]

Interesting topic. My wife has been told that things that have a mixture of vegetables and meat are less safe if kept and reheated than things that only have meat, e.g. a stock that's been boiled. Is there likely to be any basis for this?

Not really. The only problem with vegetables would be if they are not properly cleaned they would not be classed as high risk.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Not really. The only problem with vegetables would be if they are not properly cleaned they would not be classed as high risk.

Agree. Never come across this before. Veg would tend to come with more spore-forming organisms if not properly cleaned, but even then the risk I would say is low.
Interestingly in say fast food resteraunts, it's not the meat they're worried about most, it's the salad. The meat they can cook, but the salad they have little control over!

 

[lukesdad]

They put meat in their burgers FF are you sure?

 

[lukesdad]

When I was a lot younger and working in the west end, I did some agency work on my days off. Restaurant chains pubs etc. If you d seen some of the things I have you d never eat out again. There s a reason why they are cheap.

 

[jonesy]

Agree. Never come across this before. Veg would tend to come with more spore-forming organisms if not properly cleaned, but even then the risk I would say is low.
Interestingly in say fast food resteraunts, it's not the meat they're worried about most, it's the salad. The meat they can cook, but the salad they have little control over!

I wonder if it came from this, and was perhaps originally specifically referring to rice? Presumably cleaning doesn't deal with spores in rice? Are there other crops or grains with that sort of problem?