University of Phoenix Material

Food Safety Worksheet

Read each of the following scenarios.

Scenario 1:

Jeremiah went grocery shopping on a hot summer day. He bought food for an upcoming family BBQ; ground beef for hamburgers, a couple of steaks, and the ingredients for making potato salad.

When he left the store, he put his groceries in the trunk and stopped by the sports outlet store to pick up a Frisbee and croquet set. It took about 10 minutes at the sports store, and then Jeremiah headed home to prepare the food. He was concerned that it had been too hot in the car, but everything was still cold when he got home.

Jeremiah took the groceries home and put everything in the refrigerator. The meat fit well on the top shelf, right above the potato salad ingredients.

Later on, he got the groceries out to prep everything for the BBQ. He cooked the potatoes and used a sharp knife to trim some excess fat off of the raw steaks. Then he cut up the rest of the vegetables for the potato salad with the sharp knife on a cutting board.

Jeremiah formed the hamburger patties, seasoned the steaks, and finished making the potato salad. With only about 45 minutes to go before leaving for the BBQ, Jeremiah left everything sitting out on the counter while he showered and got ready.

When he arrived at the BBQ, he set the potato salad on the picnic table and went to grill the steaks and burgers. He cooked both to about medium doneness, meaning both were pink in the middle.

Jeremiah enjoyed one of the steaks he prepared and gave one to his cousin. The other family members enjoyed the burgers and potato salad; in fact, Jeremiah didn’t have a chance to try the salad. A couple of days after the BBQ, Jeremiah learned that everyone at the BBQ, with exception of himself and his cousin, experienced a bout of flu-like symptoms the following day.

Write 50- to 150-word responses to each of the following questions. Be clear and concise, use complete sentences, and explain your answers using specific examples.

1. Based on Scenario 1, what are the possible sources of food-borne illness?

The first possible source of food-borne illness is heat exposure since he left the food in the trunk on a hot day to go into a store. The food still felt cold when he got home but it also may have reached the danger zone which makes it easier for bacteria to grow. Next sources could be salmonella considering he did not wash or replace the knife he used to cut the raw steak when he started cutting up the ingredients for the potato salad. Again heat exposure could have occurred when he left the food on the counter while he got ready. Finally he should have put the potato salad in a cool place until time to serve instead of sitting outside on a picnic table also leading to heat exposure causing bacteria to grow.

2. Although Jeremiah did not get sick, there were several areas throughout Jeremiah’s day that could have led him to a serious case of food-borne illness. Point out these areas and briefly explain why they are of concern and what Jeremiah could have done differently.

The first issue that could have cause Jeremiah to get a food-borne illness is when he placed the food in the hot trunk and went to the sports store. Even though it was only for a short period of time and when he got home the food felt cold doesn’t mean that the food was at the proper temperature meaning bacteria could already be forming on the foods. He also put the meat on the top shelf which could have dripped down on the ingredient he bought for the potato salad. Meats should always be placed on the bottom shelf or somewhere that cannot come in contact with other foods. Instead of getting a clean knife he used the same one that he trimmed the fat off the raw steak; which then contaminated the vegetables that he was cutting up for the potato salad. While Jeremiah was showering and getting ready he should have put all the food back into the refrigerator to stay cold rather than leaving it sit out on the counter, again causing more bacteria to form. When he arrived at the BBQ he should have put the potato salad back into the refrigerator to stay cold until it was time to be served instead of sitting it on the picnic table in the heat.

3. Why is it safe for steak to be pink in the middle, but potentially dangerous for a hamburger not to be cooked all the way through?

Bacteria and virus live on the outside of most foods especially meats, so there for only the outside of the meat needs to be cooked. However ground beef is all mixed together causing the bacteria and viruses to be throughout the entire product. So people are at a higher risk of getting sick when consuming ground beef that is not all the way cooked through with a temperature of at least 165 degrees.
Scenario 2:

After enjoying a delicious dinner of lasagna, Martha cleaned up the kitchen and left the covered tray of leftover lasagna on the counter to cool. Since the lasagna was so dense and thick, it took about 4 hours for it to feel cool enough to go into the fridge for the night. The next day, Martha served leftover lasagna for lunch. She heated the lasagna thoroughly and it was finished.

Within about 2–3 hours, everyone who ate the lasagna developed stomach cramps, fever, and nausea; most eventually started vomiting. The illness was pretty awful, but thankfully relatively short-lived.

Write 50- to 150-word responses to each of the following questions. Be clear and concise, use complete sentences, and explain your answers using specific examples.

1. How could this illness have been prevented?

The illness could have been prevented by speeding up the cooling process. Foods that are above 140 degrees are not to be left out of the fridge for more than 2 hours. Martha should have taken the cover off because leaving it on was taking longer for the food to cool down. She could have also moved the lasagna to another pan that wasn’t hot again helping the cooling process.

2. Based on the incubation period and symptoms of the illness, what is the most likely microorganism responsible for this illness?

Considering everyone who ate the leftover lasagna began getting sick in such a short period of time leads me to believe that E-Coli was the microorganism that is to be blamed for the illness. E-Coli normally starts effecting people shortly after eating, showing symptoms like the ones Martha’s family had stomach cramps, fever, nausea, and vomiting.

3. Describe the temperature danger zone.

The danger zone is considered 40 °F - 140 °F anything in between these areas are considered dangerous. This is where bacteria begins to grow the fastest almost doubling within 20 minutes of being in the danger zone. Foods should be cooked properly making sure that they are at the recommended temperature anything lower can cause illness.

4. How could Martha have sped up the cooling process of the lasagna?

Martha could have done a few different things to help speed up the cooling process with the lasagna. She could have removed the lid allowing the hot air to be released and not be contained in the pan. She could have also removed the lasagna from the pan that it was made in placing it in a different container or another pan that was not hot.

5. If the leftover lasagna was thoroughly reheated, (which it was), how did it still lead to food-borne illness?

Even though the lasagna was reheated thoroughly at lunch time doesn’t mean that it is going to kill the bacteria that lead to the illness. When the lasagna was left out for 4 hours on the counter the day before is when it became bad. It at some point reached the danger zone and that is when the bacteria that lead to the E-Coli began form on the food.

Scenario 3:

Sally was making marinated shish-kabobs to grill for dinner. She made a beautiful marinade and then cut up the raw chicken on a cutting board. She put the chunks of chicken in the marinade and let it sit on the counter for about 3 hours until it was time to cook.

While the chicken was marinating, Sally prepared the vegetables. She cut them using the same cutting board and knife; she rinsed both off with warm water between cutting the chicken and the vegetables.

Once the chicken had marinated, Sally put the chicken and vegetables on skewers to be grilled. She also started rice in the rice cooker to go with the shish-kabobs.

As the shish-kabobs were grilling, Sally put the marinade in a serving dish for extra sauce to put over the rice.

Several hours later, Sally and her family members all developed nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, headache, and abdominal pain.

Write 50- to 150-word responses to each of the following questions. Be clear and concise, use complete sentences, and explain your answers using specific examples.

1. What could be the cause of Sally and her family members’ illness?

Salmonella is most likely the cause of Sally and her family’s illness. Considering that she allowed the chicken to sit out for 3 hour marinating and also used the same marinade sauce as a serving sauce for the rice is one reason they became ill. She also used the same cutting board and knife to cut the chicken and the vegetables only using warm water to clean it off come be another reason.

2. How could this illness have been prevented?

First off Sally should have placed the marinating chicken back into the fridge until it was time to cook, leaving it out allowed it to reach the danger zone where the bacteria begins to grow. Secondly she should have used more than warm water to wash the knife and cutting board she had cut the chicken on before she started cutting the vegetables. Lastly she should have not used the same marinade that she let the chicken marinate in to use as an extra sauce for the rice.