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LONE STAR PERSPECTIVE
“A large audience glued to the television screen and primed to learn cooking techniques would be the perfect receptor for some quick food safety training”
Remember a few years ago when the only real television cooking shows were on Public Broadcasting channels? They were sort of an oddity, I think, and the number of viewers was probably low. Things have really changed in the last few years. Who would have imagined then that there would such a thing as a “Food Network?” I am amazed that there is enough interest in food and cooking that a television network completely devoted to food could be a successful venture. It is more than successful. It has turned into an extremely profitable industry with cooking show host endorsements of books, utensils, appliances, spices—the list goes on and on. We are living in a new era of consumer interest in food and cooking. Television chefs have become rock stars… Back in the days when only a few cooking shows existed on PBS, I would watch with a critical eye as Justin Wilson (the Cajun chef) would prepare foods with a distinct Louisiana flavor and style. I used to recommend that students in my food microbiology classes watch his show and note how much cross contamination occurred. Even an inexperienced food microbiologist-in-training could spot when Justin would handle raw foods of animal origin and then wipe his hands on the towel attached to his belt Now, I am not trying to pick on Justin Wilson. His is just the only name I can remember from that era. He was not unique in his ability to demonstrate unsafe food handling practices, as there were several other television chefs who could match his skills. I used to get so fired up that I even wrote letters to some of the cooking show producers, complaining about the lack of food safety demonstrated in their programs. But I always got the same response—there was just not enough time in a 30-minute television show to go into food safety issues. I was never impressed by that argument. How long would it take to explain to viewers that it was important to wash their hands after handling raw meat? Fast forward to the current era of the Food Network. Now we have more chefs than we can count, each with daily shows. Is there enough time to discuss food safety now? Apparently not. Both of my daughters love watching Rachael Ray, Paula Dean or Alton Brown. And these new age hosts can all match Justin Wilson for unsafe foodhandling techniques. Granted, Alton Brown does make a valiant attempt to explain food science and sometimes even safe food handling techniques on a regular basis, but even he pulls some real food safety stunts every now and then. I still get fired up about the unsafe techniques when watching some of these shows along with my daughters and will get on a rant about how bad things are. My kids know enough to let me blow off steam for a while, but even they get tired of hearing it and will ask me to keep quiet so they can follow the recipe. A few weeks ago, I injured my ankle and was under doctor’s orders to keep it elevated and iced for a couple of days. So I ended up watching more television than I had in a long time. I surfed channels, but often found myself watching the Food Network again. I couldn’t believe what I saw. In at least two programs on a single afternoon, hosts told viewers that the proper way to cook a hamburger was medium-rare. I watched with amazement as they cut hamburgers in half to reveal an obviously red center and then took a bite followed by exclamations of wonder at the flavors we had been missing by “overcooking” our burgers. There was even one show about a guy who grinds his own beef onsite so it will be safe. Please! How long has it been since the hamburger outbreak in the Pacific Northwest? Have we forgotten all the lessons learned in only 15 years? Apparently so. If you read Doug Powell’s FSNet E-mail news, you have probably spotted some of his rants against unsafe techniques demonstrated on television cooking shows, so I have some confidence that I am not the only one noticing this or concerned about it. Likely, you have noted it as well. It occurs to me that it would be very easy to educate people on proper food handling and application of food safety techniques during many of the food shows that are now so popular. The opportunity is huge. A large audience glued to the television screen and primed to learn cooking techniques would be the perfect receptor for some quick food safety training. Why can’t this be done? Maybe it is because there really is too little time for that sort of thing in the allotted schedule. Possibly, it is because the hosts and producers of the shows really don’t know much about food safety. It could be because the host is so wrapped up in explaining the recipe that food safety just doesn’t come to mind. Maybe the producers of the shows believe that too much lecturing on food safety just won’t sell. Likely, it is all of these things. Whatever the reason, it is a real shame that we can’t take advantage of the situation, because I believe we could have a real impact. So why am I spending the time in one of my columns to talk about this? Well, to be honest, I really don’t know. It was just on my mind. An opportunity to reach a huge number of people with food safety training is something that doesn’t happen every day. And what really bothers me about this is that the people who are actually watching are there to learn something anyway. So not only is there a large audience, many of them are watching to learn. What an incredible opportunity to advance food safety worldwide! I am afraid what they are currently learning is how to cross contamin-ate and undercook. And in my opinion, that is a real shame—and a lost opportunity. Maybe you have some thoughts on how to address this situation. I would love to hear them, because, frankly, I am fresh out of ideas on this one. As always, you can contact me by E-mail at gacuff@tamu.edu. And, by the way, I hope you have already made your plans to attend the IAFP 2008 Annual Meeting in Columbus, Ohio. It is shaping up to be an outstanding meeting this year, and the only thing that can improve it at this point is your attendance. It is not too late to register, and we are counting on seeing you there. |