We all know the breadbasket is full of empty calories and carbs which will ruin our appetite. Each slice has at least 100 calories, and then, of course, we slather on the butter. Be patient! Wait for your meal. As another incentive, the breadbasket is also a known communal germ repository.
How many hands have touched those slices as they were being baked, cut, and served? Other hands also have dug around in the slices, too, by the time you pick your slice.
Seafood’s Little Secret
Most people do not know that fish markets are closed on weekends. So, if you order a seafood entrée on Monday, that little fillet may have been chilling on the ice for three days. Never order seafood on Mondays.
But don’t take my word. New York Times bestselling book, Kitchen Confidential by chef Anthony Bourdain said that he never ordered fish on Monday unless he was at a four-star restaurant.
Fresh Squeezed Pathogens
The freshest juices from the healthiest juice bars may be packed with more vitamins than a glass of Minute Maid orange juice could ever provide, but watch out for those pathogens! Most juices sold at stores are pasteurized. Pasteurization is a heating process that kills any harmful bacteria that may have entered the juice.
Foodborne contaminants like Listeria, E. coli, and Salmonella are summarily removed. Another risk is pesticides. According to Food Safety News, strawberries, apples, nectarines, peaches, celery, grapes, cherries, spinach, and tomatoes contain the most toxic residue.
Cheese Needs to be Pasteurized Too
But not all cheese is properly treated. Soft cheeses like brie, queso fresco, and camembert do not use pasteurization. Technically, they do not use pasteurized milk in the process. The risk posed is contamination by harmful bacteria such as Listeria and Staphylococcus aureus.
The CDC warns that cheese that is made with raw milk, as opposed to pasteurized milk, is 50 to 160 times more likely to cause a Listeria outbreak. To be fully pasteurized, milk should be heated to 161 F, for at least fifteen seconds. Alternately, it can be heated to 145 F for at least 30 minutes.
A To-Go Box Leaves Your Food Out For Too Long
If you’re not heading straight home, you probably do not want to take your leftovers to-go. The temperature of the food needs to stay cold, as in the refrigerator, or remain hot, over 140 degrees F. If not, your meal may be harboring bacteria by the time you eat the rest of it.
The guideline is to toss any leftovers that have been at room temperature for over two hours. If not, potentially deadly pathogens can thrive. Another guideline, according to the FDA, is that leftovers should be consumed in no less than four days.