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Tiny white larvae in a strawberry caused by spotted wing drosophila. Photo courtesy of Hannah Burrack, North Carolina State University, Bugwood.org.

By: Tracy Turner

I just saw a viral video that shows little tiny worms coming out of a strawberry soaking in salt water. Is that real or a prank? Can I get sick from eating strawberries if they do have worms?

Many people in recent weeks have been surprised to learn that yes, sometimes fresh produce can contain small pest infestations that, while may sound gross to some, really aren’t harmful for consumers. 

In fact, there is a strong likelihood that you’ve already unknowingly consumed a tiny worm or insect or two during your lifetime. 

The Food and Drug Administration has guidelines for how many bugs or how much mold is allowed in each type of food. Using what the FDA calls food defects standards, the agency sets the maximum levels of natural or unavoidable defects that present no health hazards in foods for human use. 

This is because, “it is economically impractical to grow, harvest, or process raw products that are totally free of nonhazardous, naturally occurring, unavoidable defects,” the FDA says.

For example, berries are allowed to have an average of four or more larvae per 500 grams, the standards say. And 14 ounces of tomato juice is allowed to have up to four larvae and 20 or more fruit fly eggs, while even a chocolate candy bar is allowed to have 60 or more insect fragments per 100 grams when six 100-gram subsamples are examined, the FDA guidelines say.

Even though that may sound gross for some, the tiny white larvae that can sometimes be found inside strawberries are harmless to consumers. They are actually the larvae of a fly, commonly known as the spotted-wing drosophila, an invasive species of pest from East Asia that infests berry crops and was first seen in the United States in 2008, said Celeste Welty, an Ohio State University Extension entomologist and associate professor of entomology. 

OSU Extension is the outreach arm of The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. 

The pest, which has been found in Ohio since 2011, can be a problem for berry growers because it can cause significant crop damage. But, if spotted early, it can be managed to avoid losses, Welty said.

Spotted-wing drosophila targets fruit crops, including raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, grapes, peaches, and plums, and sometimes cherries, strawberries, pears, apples, and cherry tomatoes. The pest causes damage through larval feeding on ripening fruit. Damage starts as a tiny scar on the skin of the fruit, with the skin collapsing in two or three days and mold developing.

“The consensus is that they almost never infest traditional June-bearing strawberries, but they often attack ever-bearing strawberries later in the summer, both in field plantings and in high tunnels,” she said.

Thanks to training offered by OSU Extension on spotted-wing drosophila, more fruit growers now know how to manage the fly to lessen the potential for it to infest fruit crops, Welty said. That often includes spraying a weekly insecticide on the crops through the end of harvest and monitoring when the insect comes onto their farm and preventing females laying eggs in the fruit, or enclosing the crop under fine-mesh netting.

Consumers can determine if the fly larvae are in a piece of fruit by putting the fruit in a plastic zippered storage bag or a one-quart container filled with warm, salty water and waiting 15 minutes, Welty said. 

“The bags or container with infested fruit will show little larvae floating to the top of the salt water,” she said, noting that if any appear, they are harmless.

“For those who may be squeamish about larvae, locally grown berries harvested in June are less likely to have larvae,” Welty said. “This is because the spotted-wing drosophila typically does not become active until July.”

Chow Line is a service of The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences and its outreach and research arms, Ohio State University Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. Send questions to Chow Line author Tracy Turner, 364 W. Lane Ave., Suite B120, Columbus, OH 43201, or turner.490@osu.edu.

Editor: This column was reviewed by Celeste Welty, an OSU Extension entomologist and associate professor of entomology.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Tracy Turner

turner.490@osu.edu

614-688-1067

SOURCE(S): 

Celeste Welty
614-292-2803
welty.1@osu.edu

  1. 364 West Lane Ave.
    Suite B120
    Columbus, OH 43201
    Fax: 614-292-2270
  2. Research Services Building
    1680 Madison Ave.
    Wooster, OH 44691
    Fax: 330-202-3504

 

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meat packaging, photo credit: Getty Images

By: Tracy Turner

Is it safe to eat food or meat if it has been handled by someone who has COVID-19? 

According to food safety and meat science experts, the risk of acquiring COVID-19 through the handling of food or meat is extremely low. In fact, there is no evidence at this time that COVID-19 can be transmitted through consumption of contaminated foods, said Lyda G. Garcia, an assistant professor of meat science with The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES).  

COVID-19 transmits person-to-person through droplets that are produced when an infected individual coughs or sneezes. The virus is most often transferred to another individual when droplets directly reach their nose, mouth, or eyes, or through close contact such as a handshake. Traditional food safety measures, especially proper hand-washing and cooking meat to the correct internal temperature, should always be followed. 

Because many consumers have similar questions as yours regarding meat safety—and meat supply—amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Garcia, who is also an Ohio State University Extension meat specialist weighs in here. OSU Extension, CFAES’ outreach arm, includes a focus on fresh meat processing, so Garcia, who is also working directly with livestock producers and meat processors addressing needs specific to each segment throughout the COVID-19 pandemic through the CFAES Lean on Your Land Grant Food Supply Chain Task Force, answers some important meat-related questions below.

Can I get sick by handling food or meat packages if the COVID-19 virus has contaminated the surfaces? 

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there is no evidence that COVID-19 can be contracted through food or meat packages. In addition, according to the FDA, you do not need to wash food containers to prevent COVID-19 infection. You shouldn’t wash meat in the sink, nor should you spray or dip food products into chemicals commonly used for household cleaning. Rather, you should always wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol content after handling packages or leaving a retail establishment. Be sure to disinfect food preparation areas according to chemical manufacturer’s recommendations. 

Will meat plant closures due to workers contracting COVID-19 cause meat shortages? 

The meat industry is devoted to maintaining the supply chain. Although some plants have temporarily closed and others have slowed production, the meat industry began preparing for interruptions in the supply chain once COVID-19 began to spread globally. Currently, the industry does not foresee any interruptions in the supply chain. Those meat processing plants that have closed are deep cleaning, beyond traditional cleaning and sanitizing measures, as well as working with state and local health departments to reopen as soon as it is safe. Consumers should not panic-buy or stockpile meats. Rather, they should maintain traditional buying patterns. 

What is the meat industry doing to maintain the supply chain? 

While temporary closures of restaurants and other food service establishments have caused overall total meat sales to decline, restaurant and food service meats are being transferred to meet the needs of retail grocery stores. Additionally, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) is working with the meat industry to help ensure that the supply chain remains intact and safe. Consumers can help the meat industry maintain consistent supplies by avoiding panic-buying or stockpiling. 

What are meat plants doing to help their workers remain healthy during the pandemic?

Social distancing has become the new buzz phrase. Part of the reason some meat plants are reducing production is to institute and enforce social distancing. Most plants are staggering shifts, breaks, and lunchtimes, along with installing tents to allow workers to social distance. They’re also taking workers’ temperatures and completing overall worker health assessments at the beginning of each shift, and workers are required to wear masks, gloves, and eye protection. Plastic dividers are also being installed when social distancing is not possible. Workers that do become ill will still receive pay while they recover.

What is the USDA-FSIS doing to maintain a safe meat supply? 

Mandatory meat inspection is the law. The USDA-FSIS is working with the meat industry to ensure that meat inspectors are present at all inspected processing facilities. If an inspector becomes ill, a replacement or relief inspector is sent to fulfil the duties. In addition, the USDA-FSIS is working with state and local health departments to reopen closed plants to make sure all workers are safe. 

“The meats industry, the USDA, and farmers are trying to maintain the supply chain,” Garcia said. “Please understand everyone is trying to make sure safe, healthy food is available to consumers.” 

“Meat plants that have closed are testing employees for COVID-19, performing deep cleanings in the plants, instituting safety measures including Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), promoting social distancing, as well as working with state and local health departments to reopen as soon as possible. Consumers can help by avoiding panic-buying and stockpiling. By working together, we can make sure there is plenty for everyone.”

Chow Line is a service of The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences and its outreach and research arms, Ohio State University Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. Send questions to Chow Line, c/o Tracy Turner, 364 W. Lane Ave., Suite B120, Columbus, OH 43201, or turner.490@osu.edu.

Editor: This column was reviewed by Lyda G. Garcia, a CFAES assistant professor of meat science and an OSU Extension meat specialist.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Tracy Turner

turner.490@osu.edu

614-688-1067

SOURCE(S): 

Lyda Garcia
garcia.625@osu.edu

  1. 364 West Lane Ave.
    Suite B120
    Columbus, OH 43201
    Fax: 614-292-2270
  2. Research Services Building
    1680 Madison Ave.
    Wooster, OH 44691
    Fax: 330-202-3504

 

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Man wearing face mask, photo credit: Getty Images

By: Tracy Turner

Original link: https://cfaes.osu.edu/news/articles/chow-line-face-masks-and-eating

I now wear a mask every time I leave my house, and I plan to do so as long as we are faced with the COVID-19 pandemic. But I haven’t figured out how to eat or drink with a mask on. Do I take it off or pull it up between bites? Any tips on what to do?

As states ease their stay-at-home orders and people return to venturing out of the house, your question of how to eat or drink while wearing a face mask is one that is likely to come up frequently.

According to published reports, some restaurants in Hong Kong, for example, have begun providing patrons with a clean bag to store their masks in while they eat at the restaurant. With that in mind, if you do plan to eat when out in public, you should carefully take your mask off completely without touching the outside of the mask, said Sanja Ilic, food safety state specialist with Ohio State University Extension, the outreach arm of The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. 

“The best practice is not to reuse the mask before it be can be properly cleaned,” she said. “One option would be to have a second, cleaned mask that you can put on after eating. Also, before eating, you need to wash or sanitize your hands after removing your mask.” 

It’s also important to know how to take off your mask safely, Ilic said, because proper use of face masks might help restrict the spread of the virus from an infected person or prevent a healthy person from becoming infected. Improper use could cause the opposite, she said.

“Masks and cloth face coverings should be handled assuming they are contaminated with the virus causing COVID-19,” Ilic said. “As such, face coverings should be removed without touching the outside of it or your eyes, nose, or mouth. The mask or face covering should be immediately placed with dirty laundry or stored in a plastic bag until they can be properly cleaned.” 

Also, people should be careful not to touch their eyes, nose, or mouth when removing their face covering, and they should wash their hands immediately after removing their mask.

Ilic said face coverings can be an effective means of slowing the spread of the infectious agent for many respiratory illnesses and might help slow the spread of COVID-19.

“But, wearing a face covering does NOT provide complete protection and does not replace other ways of slowing virus spread,” she said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, here are some ways to slow the spread: practicing good social distancing by staying at home; avoiding contact with others, and staying at least 6 feet away from others when out in public; washing your hands with soap for 20 seconds and using hand sanitizer often; and avoiding touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.

When choosing and wearing a face mask, the CDC says the mask should:

  • fit snugly but comfortably against the side of your face.
  • be secured with ties or ear loops.
  • include multiple layers of fabric.
  • allow for breathing without restriction.
  • be able to be laundered and machine-dried without damaging or changing its shape.
  • cover your mouth and nose with no gaps between your face and the mask.

Additionally, the CDC says to:

  • wash or sanitize your hands before putting on a mask, every time the covering is touched, and immediately after removing the mask.
  • put the mask on, grasp the mask and pinch it at the ear loops or grasp the upper ties. For ear-loop-style masks, secure the ear loops behind the ears. For tie-back-style masks, secure the upper ties behind your head first, then secure the lower ties behind your head. Always put the same side of a reused mask against the face.
  • remove the mask slowly and carefully without touching the outside of it or the eyes, nose, or mouth. Remove ear-loop masks by holding the ear loops. Remove tie-back masks by untying the lower ties first and the upper ties last; ensure that the ties don’t fall into the clean, interior side of the mask. If the mask will be reused, place it in a bag until it can be laundered.
  • wash the cloth mask after each use with regular detergent and warm/hot water, then dry it thoroughly in the dryer.

It’s also important that you don’t wear a mask that hasn’t been cleaned thoroughly, or one that is soiled, torn, saturated, or damaged, Ilic said.

“Remember, you can still get infected by touching your eyes, nose, or mouth, so don’t let the mask provide you with a false sense of security,” she said.

Chow Line is a service of The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences and its outreach and research arms, Ohio State University Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. Send questions to Chow Line, c/o Tracy Turner, 364 W. Lane Ave., Suite B120, Columbus, OH 43201, or turner.490@osu.edu.

Editor: This column was reviewed by Sanja Ilic, state specialist in food safety for OSU Extension.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Tracy Turner

turner.490@osu.edu

614-688-1067

SOURCE(S): 

Sanja Ilic
614-292-4076
ilic.2@osu.edu

  1. 364 West Lane Ave.
    Suite B120
    Columbus, OH 43201
    Fax: 614-292-2270
  2. Research Services Building
    1680 Madison Ave.
    Wooster, OH 44691
    Fax: 330-202-3504

 

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Family dinner (photo credit: National Cancer Society)

By: Dr. Kara Morgan

Within the coronavirus pandemic, we are living through extraordinary times. Even as a decision analyst who is accustomed to bringing tools and experience to the challenge of making decisions under uncertainty, I am finding it challenging to absorb and react to all of the emerging information that we are continuously receiving. It is overwhelming.

In the food safety community, the first questions were about the ability for coronavirus to be transmitted through food. Current research indicates that the likelihood of transmission through food is very low. However, we need to be aware how quickly science has been changing during this pandemic and be prepared to respond accordingly. We cannot let down our guard.

Other concerns focus on the impacts of food safety, not from the coronavirus, but from traditional foodborne pathogens. The food safety system has some automated and technical components but, at its core, it is a human system and vulnerable to the same types of impacts that every human system can be impacted by. Stressed employees, new and less trained employees, and employees working in unusual environments (increase in curbside deliveries, wearing masks while waiting tables), restaurants selling bulk produce and raw protein, all of these unusual situations can impact the risk management hurdles that are put in place to prevent and reduce foodborne illness. Also, things like shifts in types of food being eaten (more eating at home, more take-out) and shortages in grocery stores can lead to changes in consumption patterns which can lead to changes in exposure to foodborne illness  as well.

The final assault on the food safety system from coronavirus is the problem of government resources. The public health resources that are assigned at CDC and in local and state health agencies to collect and analyze data on foodborne illness have been redirected to support work on containing and managing the COVID19 outbreak. This is understandable but poses an increasingly likelihood over the next weeks and months that a large foodborne outbreak will not be identified by the systems that would usually detect it. Also, doctors are not ordering the lab tests that feed data into the surveillance system that identifies matches and helps link single illnesses to other illnesses that lead to the recognition of an outbreak. Finally, the resources at FDA that are dedicated to oversight of the food system through domestic and foreign inspections of food manufacturing facilities have been put on hold in order to protect FDA inspectors from possible exposure to coronavirus. In addition, the food manufacturing inspections that are conducted by state inspectors under contract to FDA were also paused. The USDA inspections have not been stopped (if they had, meat and poultry production would have to stop, by law), but many USDA inspectors have become ill from coronavirus and at least four have died, so there are clearly stresses in that environment as well.

Some have hypothesized that the cleaning and sanitizing practices that have been put in place to reduce the spread of coronavirus could have positive impacts on food safety. It is true that policies like proper handwashing and employees staying away from work when they are sick are key risk management tools for reducing foodborne illnesses caused by microbial pathogens. Also, the sanitation practices put into place to reduce the spread of COVID19 will similarly kill foodborne pathogens on food contact surfaces that may have otherwise caused cross-contamination and lead to foodborne illness. But the truth is, we will never know. We will never know whether these practices reduced foodborne illnesses because the data we have during the pandemic will be of lower quality than previous time frames, that is, it will have more missing data due to lack of reporting from state labs of patient samples and the lack of resources to monitor and trace foodborne outbreaks. Most likely, the estimates of foodborne illness during this time frame will be lower, but we will not know if that was due to the change in practices or due to the lack of resources to identify and investigate illnesses. It is a fragile system we have built to monitor foodborne illness, and unfortunately, like so many other things, the COVID19 pandemic has shattered it. Perhaps the analysts who estimate foodborne burden can develop a method of accounting for these changes, but those will simply introduce more uncertainty. There is one hope - if we can keep these more intense cleaning and illness protocols in place after the COVID-19 threat passes and the public health system is able to turn its attention back to food safety, only then will we will be able to assess the true impact on the system. And if, as many say, we are moving into an era with a constant threat of global pandemics, maybe that is not as unlikely as it now seems.


Dr. Kara MorganDr. Kara Morgan

Research Scientist

 

 

 

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cafeteria

By: Allison Howell

I was home with my family for Spring Break when Ohio State first announced a transition to online learning for the rest of Spring Semester. As a graduating senior, I didn’t know how to feel. I was sad that I wouldn’t get to see my classmates or teachers anymore. I was confused as to how my lab courses would be transitioned into an online format. But as a microbiology major, I understood the threat that COVID-19 posed and why these decisions had been made. Soon, more announcements were made. Spring Break would be extended an extra week for students to move out of university housing, gyms and dining facilities would be shut down, students on study abroad would have to return home, and the Class of 2020’s graduation ceremony would be cancelled. All of these cancellations and postponements put a damper on the last few weeks of my undergraduate experience, but I adapted to the situation and finished my coursework to earn my undergraduate degree.

With classes being moved online, I have had more free time to cook meals and try out new recipes. At home, leftovers were not as common and usually only lasted a day or two in the fridge before my dad or one of my sisters finished them up. But now, cooking for one, I often find myself filling two or three containers with leftovers every time I cook. I try to keep them close to the front of the fridge, so I remember to eat them before they go bad, but I also live and share a refrigerator with five roommates. Leftovers get moved around to make room for more leftovers or a recent grocery haul, and often I find myself faced with a dilemma: How long ago did I make this chicken? Was this my leftover pasta from Monday or my roommate’s leftover pasta from last Monday?

In these situations, I find myself reminded of food safety campaigns such as 4 Day Throwaway and USDA’s Be Food Safe: Clean. Separate. Cook. Chill.

4 Day Throw AwayClean, Separate, Cook, Chill

Growing up with two parents in the food industry, I learned how to make safe food choices, but many other college students didn’t spend their free time as a kid helping stock shelves at a grocery store or watching a parent experiment with new recipes. After two years of living off campus and being without a meal plan, my roommates still often ask me things like “If I am going to cook this chicken on Friday will it stay good in the fridge until then or should I freeze it?” and “How do I tell if these burgers are done?”

This pandemic has displaced many college students, some who are able to return to their family homes and some who are not. With university dining services closed, these students are thrust headfirst into shopping for and preparing their own meals. Data suggests most outbreaks of foodborne illness are tied to restaurants or eating out, but this trend should be appreciated with caution. Our current food safety surveillance systems are better at detecting incidences of foodborne illness for restaurants than homecooked food. Following basic food safety guidelines can always help reduce your risk of foodborne illness whether you are cooking for a crowd or yourself. In normal times or during a global pandemic.

I have seen lots of articles and stories connecting COVID-19 to food safety and providing answers to questions such as “Can COVID-19 be spread through food?”, “Is takeout or delivery safer?” and “How should I change the way I grocery shop?” No data suggests that COVID-19 is able to be transmitted through food, but still food safety experts and public health officials have been working hard to make sure the public is informed and empowered to make safe food choices during this pandemic. The FDA has an abundance of resources on their Food Safety and the Coronavirus Disease 2019 page, and many universities have been hosting webinars and publishing communications to keep the public informed. This graphic from North Carolina State University Extension is just one example of the many resources they have been developing. Check out the rest here.

COVID-19 and Food Safety FAQ

We have been adjusting a lot of our daily decisions and behaviors to the current state of the pandemic. Food safety behaviors are not excluded from this change. The pandemic has drawn attention to how we contribute to the spread of germs and the actions we are able to take to help limit this spread. These actions, such as more frequent handwashing and staying home as much as possible when sick help to reduce the spread of both COVID-19 and foodborne pathogens. While we hope many things may go back to “normal” after the pandemic, perhaps not all of these adjustments should be reversed. Frequent handwashing and more attention to personal hygiene, especially in the kitchen, are hopefully here to stay!


Allison Howell

 

Allison Howell

Graduate Research Assistant at the Master’s level

howell.497@buckeyemail.osu.edu

 

 

 

 

 

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