Bulk Food Buying During Coronavirus

April 8, 2020

As of this writing, you — along with 90 percent of your fellow Americans — are under stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus pandemic. The orders are in place to minimize physical contact between people which is how the virus spreads.

Under these stay-at-home orders, procuring food remains an essential activity. For many people, food delivery is an attractive option. For others, particularly those on a tight budget, and those who may view grocery shopping as one way to experience some sense of normalcy, their local food retailer is their source for food and other basics for isolating at home.

Grocery Store Visits: Planning for Perishables

Buying food in bulk helps you limit the number of trips you need to make to the store, possibly reducing exposure to others who potentially could be carrying the coronavirus.

Fight BAC! is here to help you out with a few essential tips on buying and storing bulk perishables, and how managing for food safety at home can keep you healthy and minimize food waste.

As you consider your food budget and how to efficiently use the food you have at home, we have some great resource suggestions:

The USDA SNAP-ED program on meal planning and food budgeting.
My Plate is also a good source for tips on getting the most out of the food dollars you’re spending, plan meals for balanced nutrition, and reduce food waste.

Shopping for Perishables

Now, let’s get shopping for those perishables. Make a list of what you are planning to buy – and link it to specific meals or healthy snacks you’ve planned.

Check your refrigerator and freezer before your grocery trip:

Do you really need more meat, poultry, fish and eggs?
Do you have items in the freezer that could be safely thawed and worked into a meal?

Before you go to the store is a great time to review what you have, and plan to buy items that allow you to put together a meal from the foods you have in the freezer.

BYOB: Bring Your Own Bags to the Grocery Store

On your trips, plan to use your own bags – preferably quality canvas totes that have just been freshly laundered. During the coronavirus outbreak some stores are not allowing customers to bring their own reusable totes. You may want to check with your retailer before you go.

Now is a great time to get into the habit of laundering your totes on a regular basis – and not storing them in your trunk or outdoors. Invest in sturdy totes that hold up well to laundering.

Buying Bulk Fruit: How Long Will It Last?

Retailers are reporting significantly increased sales of 5-pound bags of apples, oranges and other fresh produce.

Be aware of how long fruits and vegetables will last.

Plan to only buy what you will be able to consume or prepare for freezing.
Apples will last 3 weeks if stored at cool temperature, and 4-6 weeks if refrigerated.
Oranges and other citrus is best if eaten within 20 days if refrigerated.

Produce safety expert Trevor Suslow’s article covers safe handling of produce with coronavirus. Remember – running tap water and clean hands are all you need to rinse your fresh fruits and vegetables.

Meat & Poultry Coronavirus Bulk-Buying Tips

Buying larger family-sized trays of beef, pork, and chicken products is a common way to stock up, save money and have important basic protein on-hand for preparing family meals.

If you buy bulk meat and poultry, and you plan to divide it up for freezing portions, keep in mind this important and often-overlooked recommendation: you want to retain the original package label. Why? Should there be a later recall of a meat or poultry product, you will then know if you have that product in your refrigerator based on identifying marks.

Keep the Label

One suggestion is to cut the labeling off the large package, and put it, along with your store receipt if possible, in a plastic sandwich bag, marking on the bag the date of purchase. Mark each of the portions you plan to freeze with an identifier so you will know it was part of the bulk tray you purchased.

When there is a recall of a meat or poultry product, you’ll be able to identify the product in your freezer if you’ve kept this label information.

The retailer imprint area should include the product name, brand name (not all meat and poultry is under a brand name), establishment number, product weight/size, lot code and date code.

Keep the label information in a safe place where you will be able to check it in the event of a recall involving products you commonly buy.

Wrapping Meat & Poultry Properly

Wrap separate pieces of meat or poultry in foil or plastic bags, then place all wrapped or bagged portions into a larger freezer bag or foil wrap. Press all air out of the bag or foil package and label the package with the identifying information and date you froze.

Even though these products can be kept for about a year in the freezer, for quality and flavor remember to plan meals that will use these products within about four months.

Fresh meat and poultry should not be kept in the refrigerator very long before you use it or freeze it. For poultry just 1-2 days and for cuts of meat just 3-5 days maximum. For safety and quality, make sure your refrigerator is at 40 F or below. Your refrigerator temperature is important to reducing risk of food poisoning.

What About Deli Meats? How Long Can I Store Them?

Once you open a package of deli meat, you have only 3-5 days to consume it. Unopened deli meats keep at proper refrigeration for two weeks.

For your many other perishables, including eggs, dairy and other products, the USDA-Food Marketing Institute Food Keeper can help you navigate how long these foods can be kept for safety and quality. The Food Keeper is available as a mobile app, too.

Everyone has a role in food safety! And consider this: It is never a good time to have to visit your doctor because you or your loved one has a foodborne illness. But now is an especially bad time to require medical attention.

Limit your exposure by staying home, and have the entire family be up-to-speed on the Clean, Separate, Cook and Chill practices.

Shelley Feist is Executive Director of the non-profit Partnership for Food Safety Education.

Take a Fresh Look at Frozen Foods this Holiday Season

December 15, 2016

Dr. Donna Garren, Senior Vice President of Regulatory and Technical Affairs, Frozen Food Foundation

In honor of the holiday season, the Frozen Food Foundation invites you to take a fresh look at frozen foods and follow the four easy steps in the Story of Your Dinner consumer education campaign.

Frozen. How Fresh Stays Safe.
Freezing is nature’s pause button. Freezing simply pauses just-picked and just-baked foods, keeping them at their peak of freshness and locking in their flavor and nutrients.

Freezing, one of the oldest methods of preserving foods, can keep foods fresh for a longer period of time. Freezing is a natural way to keep foods safe by preventing microorganisms from growing and by slowing down the enzyme activity that causes food to spoil. Modern freezing techniques used by fruit and vegetable growers and makers of prepared meals capture and preserve food at the peak of its freshness and nutrient content.

When preparing the variety of options available to consumers in the frozen food aisle, remember to always read and follow the package cooking instructions to achieve the right temperature to make your foods safe and delicious.

Another important tip to remember this holiday season is if you can’t eat your leftovers quickly, freeze them, because cold temperatures slow the growth of harmful bacteria.

Frozen. How Fresh Stays Nutritious.
Did you know that frozen fruits and vegetables are as rich in nutrients and, in many cases, are packed with even higher nutrient levels than their fresh counterparts?

Two Frozen Food Foundation-commissioned studies conducted by the Universities of Georgia (UGA) and California-Davis (UC Davis) reveal that frozen fruits and vegetables are as rich in nutrients, and often more so, than fresh-stored produce.

Frozen. How Fresh Stays Accessible.
About 40 percent of the food produced in the United States each year is never eaten, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, amounting to about $162 billion lost every year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

All of this wasted food is staggering considering 17.5 million U.S. households are food insecure.

Frozen foods mean less wasted food and access to well-balanced, portion-controlled nutritious meals in every season and community. In fact, research published in the British Food Journal shows that frozen food generates 47 percent less food waste at home than non-frozen food, so families can save money while still eating healthy meals.

We’ve got your back this holiday season with safe, nutritious and easy to prepare frozen foods. Print

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Hy-Vee Shoppers “Caught” in the Act of Health

August 22, 2015

Members of the McLean County Health Department’s employee-comprised marketing committee are serious about raising awareness around public health. The committee publicly launched a summer program in their hometown of Bloomington, Illinois, focused on publicaly recognizing the individual choices people make every day that, taken together, create a positive effect on health.

The first of these “pop-up” events as they called them, was held on May 21, 2015 at the Bloomington Hy-Vee grocery store.

Lisa Slater, Public Health Communications Specialist, chairs the marketing committee and explained the event this way,

“We wanted to get out into the community and shine a light on individuals who are making good decisions everyday when it comes to their health and the health of their families.”

At the Hy-Vee pop-up, Lisa’s team surprised shoppers they saw taking positive health action — things like putting a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables in their cart, or using hand sanitizer in the store. To promote home food safety, team members gave each person they stopped a meat thermometer and the Partnership for Food Safety Education’s, Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures/Safe Cooking Guidelines handout, to promote the importance of using food thermometers when cooking to reduce the risk of food poisoning.

Shoppers that were “caught” in the act of doing the right thing for their health also received an “I am Public Health” t-shirt.

Do the right thing for your health — your partners in public health are ready to support you!

California Cantaloupe Advisory Board supports consumer safe handling of cantaloupes

June 26, 2015

California cantaloupe farmers want consumers to be confident about the safety of their product.

The California Cantaloupe Advisory Board (CCAB) developed a website that uses fun and informative consumer-friendly graphics, step-by-step instructions, and how-to videos to educate consumers on proper procedures to safely handle, prepare, and store cantaloupes at home. The CCAB utilizes social media channels to communicate this information and lead people to its website for more information.

In addition to science-based food safety practices, farmers have conducted research on the best way to store and prepare cantaloupes in the home.

Here are helpful cantaloupe resources from the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board:

BAC Fighter works towards diets that are both junk-free and foodborne pathogen-free

June 26, 2015

Karina Walker, a graduate student pursuing a Master in Nutritional Sciences at West Virginia University shares her dreams of a food-safe and natural world below.

Ever since completing my first nutrition course, I have known that a future career in the health and food field was where I belonged. I love to discuss how eating a balanced diet can affect many parts of our health, from our ability to sleep well to our chronic disease risk. However, I also emphasize that before eating nutritious foods, we must first be sure they aren’t actually dangers in disguise. Consuming a salad packed with fresh vegetables and topped with salmon would make a great lunch choice for you and your family; but if the vegetables weren’t washed thoroughly or the salmon was stored at an improper temperature, a once healthy meal quickly morphs into a threat instead of a treat to our bodies. It is imperative that we educate families on how to not only eat healthy but also how to prepare, handle, cook and store their foods. In addition, consumers must understand the significance of food recalls and how to properly react to them. Many people will continue to eat recalled foods while others will avoid the food and foods similar to it that were not even involved in the recall long after it is over. As an aspiring registered dietitian, I am hoping to help clear this confusion and advocate diets that are both junk-free and foodborne pathogen-free. My master’s thesis research of developing an antimicrobial fruit wash coincides with this goal. The wash will be made using citrus essential oils and organic acids. These recognizable ingredients agree with families’ desire to purchase more natural products. I am happy my education and passion can combine as there is nothing I’d rather do than promote and contribute to a world where the combination of practicing food safety and consuming nutritious food has become the norm at every meal.