"Tackle the Table" - Food Safety

February 03, 2010

This is the last in a three part series tackling bacteria in restaurants, home kitchens and on prepared food ahead of the Super Bowl, Sunday February 7, 2010.

If you're hosting friends for a Super Bowl party or just having your own junk food feast Sunday, be careful not get an "illegal procedure" penalty when it comes to food safety.

The classic table spread of pizza, chips and dip, veggies, chicken wings, etc. might all taste delicious at kickoff, but if the food sits out, somewhere around the third quarter your chances of getting sick are much higher.

To help us illustrate bacterial growth on food sitting at room temperature, we enlisted the help of Wichita State University Microbiologist Fawn Beckman. Beckman performed a test, leaving food samples out at room temperature for four hours to see how the bacteria levels increase over time. "Our bacterial counts they do multiply. They shoot through the roof," said Beckman.

She took bite size samples of the food, dropped them in a blender with sterile water, and let them sit at room temperature.

Two days later, we saw the results.

"I was surprised to see that the spinach dip didn't have anything at all." she said referring to the petri plate with the four hour old sample.

Beckman said the high amount of salt and preservatives in the spinach dip and the salsa probably kept the bacteria from growing wild. They might not necessarily make you sick, but she still wouldn't recommend eating them.

The veggie tray was a different story.

"We have a lot more growth on our fourth hour. The longer it sat out the funkier it got," said Beckman, noting exponential growth in bacteria levels.

Our pizza showed nothing to be concerned with. "Pepperoni has so much salt and so much preservatives in it. I think pepperoni might be able to survive a nuclear holocaust and still be safe to eat," said Beckman.

Buffalo wings won't survive that nuclear holocaust, though. "The wings are gross," said Beckman. Meat is a great nutrition source for bacteria. Our petri plate showed the presence of large amounts of various bacterial types. "Probably not a good idea to eat those wings," said Beckman.

Food Safety Recommendations

Don't leave food out at room temperature longer than two hours.
Keep food refrigerated as long as possible before serving
Set out small trays of food and refill them periodically for freshness
Use toothpicks and utensils to avoid transferring bacteria from hands onto food

For more food safety and food handling tips, click here.

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