Tag: food safety

Building memory is a complex mix of brain activity and plasticity.

Learning is one of our most admired human traits. Being quick to pick up new skills can be key to our career success.

Building memory is a complex mix of brain activity and plasticity. However here are some basics that may help and encourage us.

  1. Experience or create the memory. The events or information are actively processed by our brain and begin to be associated with other things we’ve already processed. The connections established between memories is key.
  2. Consolidation or reconsolidation happens next. The experience is strengthened in long-term memory. Repeating the original experience helps. Sleeping on it also helps. Good sleep is tied to good memory.
  3. Recall. Each time we remember or recall an event or bit of information we make connections stronger. A little variation (time, space, location, context) in each recall cycle seems to help as well.

We want to recommend a book we particularly enjoyed some time ago.  Moonwalking with Einstein is a very readable look about building memory. Joshua Foer starts with a fun historical perspective of human memory. And then tells the story of how he came to compete in a type of memory olympics, where ordinary people display feats of spectacular memorization.

Good stuff.

Remember to take a look at Cogneti’s Safe Food Handler certificate program. We’ve designed some nice learning accelerators into the training app. It’s mobile. And we think it’s built for the way people need to train.

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Practice makes perfect is the old training adage

Practice makes perfect is the old training adage. Which is still true, but with a slight twist. Changing things up a bit makes learning faster and better, according to a Johns Hopkins study. “What we found is if you practice a slightly modified version of a task you want to master, you actually learn more and faster than if you just keep practicing the exact same thing multiple times in a row”

Repetitive practice is a proven way of building recall. Many trainers use flashcards or quizzes to build recall. How could you change these things up? Well, you may occasionally force fast quizzes. Under a minute – focusing just on speed.

Our Cogneti’s Safe Food Handler certificate program helps you train this way. It’s a simple mobile app. Designed with basic game mechanics. It has a series of unique quizzes for every food safety topic. And it’s ANSI accredited, which is super-duper cool.

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Food is not a carrier of the Covid19 but, bad hygiene definitely is.

Food is not a carrier of the Covid19 but, bad hygiene definitely is. Keep your employees & customers safe by ensuring that your kitchens comply with all the necessary hygiene standards.

Food safety is important for everyone and we can all take simple steps to protect ourselves and our families.

Wash your hands with warm soapy water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling food.

Wash countertops with warm soapy water after preparing each food item.

Wash fresh fruits and vegetables under cool, running, drinkable water, before eating them or cooking them.

Consider using paper towels to clean up kitchen surfaces. 

Stay safe at home!

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Norovirus outbreak in China linked to delivered food

Norovirus was behind a foodborne outbreak in 2018 caused by eating take-out food in China, according to a study.

The outbreak involved 157 probable cases and 20 people had laboratory-confirmed norovirus infections in two weeks in March 2018.

Food delivery services have become common in China in recent years but the hygienic condition of delivered food is not easy to control. Contamination can occur at any stage, from preparation to distribution, and food handlers must play an important role, said researchers.

The outbreak was managed by restrictions on off-campus dining and implementation of disinfection and case isolation measures.

Food delivery link

The study, published in the journal BMC Public Health, reported students at the school in Guangzhou developed a sudden onset of symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting.

Guangzhou is a city in Guangdong Province, southern China. There were at least two outbreaks in four schools from 2015 to 2017 in the city, according to the National Public Health Emergency Event Surveillance System.

A case control study was carried out using online standardized questionnaires. The control group was randomly selected healthy students of the same sex and age as cases but without gastrointestinal symptoms.

The proportion of students who had eaten delivery food three days before onset of disease in the case group was 2.69 times that of the control group.

Having take-out food three days earlier, and exposure to similar cases 72 hours before onset and cases in the same dormitory were risk factors.

Vomiting was the most common symptom, followed by diarrhea, abdominal pain and fever. All cases were mild and no hospitalization, severe illness, or deaths occurred. All cases were students, aged 17 to 23 years old, including 47 males and 110 females.

Norovirus detection

A total 379 samples were collected, including rectal swab samples from cases, of food handlers in the off-campus restaurant and canteen staff in the school and 32 environmental swabs, 21 from the canteen in the school and 11 from the off-campus restaurant.

Rectal swab samples from employees and environmental swabs from the off-campus restaurant offering delivery service to students were collected. Of 169 rectal swabs, 10 were positive for norovirus, and two of 11 environmental swab samples were positive. All samples were negative for other viruses and bacteria.

The strains detected in five samples (two confirmed cases, a food handler, and two environmental swab samples) were all norovirus genogroup GII.3 reference strains.

Detection of norovirus in environmental swab samples from the off-campus restaurant and rectal swabs from food handlers presented a chain of evidence, according to the study.

Researchers said poor handling practices among infected food handlers are a common infection source in foodborne outbreaks in Guangzhou.

Foodborne transmission made up 40 percent of norovirus outbreaks in the city from 2016 to 2018, among which contamination by kitchen workers accounted for a large proportion, they added.

Food handling practices carry potential risk of acute gastroenteritis outbreaks due to inadequate surveillance and supervision, said researchers.

“Greater attention should be paid to the monitoring and supervision of food handlers in off campus restaurants to reduce the incidence of norovirus-related acute gastroenteritis associated with delivery food.”

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Food Safety Tips During COVID-19

As the new coronavirus, COVID-19, sweeps the United States, many people feel anxious about routine aspects of everyday life, such as grocery shopping. If you wonder whether you might pick up COVID-19 from food or food packaging, you’re not alone. And what about food delivery packaging? Are meal kits or restaurant meals delivered by courier safe?

Experts Say Food Is Safe

This anxiety surrounding food may be heightened by the fact that research is somewhat lacking about how COVID-19 travels from person to person. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says this transmission occurs through droplets: the microscopic particles emitted when someone coughs or sneezes. Contact (surface) transmission does not seem to happen often with COVID-19, and there is no evidence at all that it is transmitted through food or food packaging.

“Food itself isn’t likely to be a route by which coronavirus spreads easily, so the actual food you get in the package should be safe,” says Verywell Health Medical Review Board Member Andy Miller. “The packaging on the food—the plastic wrap on the chicken, for instance—might theoretically have some coronavirus on it, if the person packaging the chicken, or handling the packaged chicken, was infected. That’s possible, but not a very likely vector for transmission.”

Grocery Shopping

Although experts do not believe food or food packaging transmit COVID-19, you should still take steps to reduce your risk as much as possible. Consider using grocery pickup or delivery, if possible, to avoid contacting other people inside a grocery store. If you must shop in person, try these strategies:

  • Prepare a list in advance so you can get in and out of the store quickly.
  • Wash your hands before and after you go into the store.
  • Use disinfectant to wipe down the handle of the cart or basket, as well as adjacent surfaces.
  • Maintain at least six feet of distance between yourself and other shoppers as best as you can.
  • Evaluate produce items only with your eyes. Avoid touching them, other than to place them in your basket. Consider using hand sanitizer before and after choosing your produce items.
  • Wipe down reusable shopping bags inside and out with a disinfecting wipe before and after each use. If using washable totes, wash them after each use.
  • Dispose of single-use grocery bags (if using) immediately after shopping.
  • Wash produce items thoroughly using plain water or a produce wash product before eating.

Takeout, Drive-Through, and Delivery

Not only is ordering takeout from a local eatery likely safe, but you’ll be providing vital economic support to these hard-hit businesses.

“Restaurants doing takeout/delivery should be following the same precautions for their employees that are recommended for other businesses: social distancing, frequent handwashing, frequent cleaning of high touch surfaces, etc.,” says Verywell Health Medical Review Board Member Anju Goel

That said, you should use handwashing precautions to avoid the remote possibility of picking up COVID-19 from the takeout packaging. Follow this procedure:

  • Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer before picking up a takeout order. If having food delivered, opt for “no contact” delivery, paying ahead of time and asking for your meal to be left at the door.
  • Wash your hands again before removing food from the packaging at home.
  • Wash your hands after eating the food and disposing of the packaging.

Meal Delivery Kits

Using meal kits like Blue Apron, Purple Carrot, or Home Chef can be an excellent way to enjoy nutritious, home-cooked meals while avoiding congregating with people at a grocery store. These food subscription services deliver boxes to your doorstep with ingredients you need to eat well during quarantine.

“Meal kits are likely safer than standing in line with your cart at the grocery store,” says Verywell Health contributor Robyn Correll Carlyle, MPH. “While there’s still a lot we don’t know for certain, the new coronavirus doesn’t appear to be transmitted through food. I think the bigger risk might be if someone infected with the virus is preparing the kits or handling them in the process of shipping. “

Minimizing Meal Kit Risks

To minimize your risk from handling meal kits, follow these tips:

  • Wash your hands before opening the boxes.
  • Immediately place cold items in the refrigerator.
  • Observe safe food handling procedures, such as separating raw poultry from other foods during preparation.
  • Wash your hands after emptying the box and putting away the contents.

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