Food Safety Basics

Food Safety Basics — page 3 — they became sick Thousands of years ago people began searching for ways to preserve foods to keep them fresh and safe The concern for food safety continued throughout history Now government agencies are responsible for food safety throughout the worldwide food industry Keep It Dry Early people in many parts of the world preserved foods by drying them Ancient Egyptians built silos or storage tanks to hold large quantities of dry grain Ancient Romans dried food by salting it Native Americans braided together the husks of several ears of corn and hung them over tree branches or poles to dry in the wind Today scientists know the water in moist foods can enable harmful substances such as bacteria yeasts and molds to multiply and make people sick Early people learned that removing moisture from foods makes them last longer 6

Food Safety Basics — page 4 — Native Americans dried fish and meat to keep them f r e s h l o n g e r Keep It Cold Some foods must be kept cold to slow the growth of germs that can make people sick Early people living in cold climates preserved foods by packing them in snow or leaving them outside to freeze In warmer regions people harvested blocks of ice from frozen lakes in winter They stored the ice in insulated icehouses so it could be used during other seasons Packing foods in ice helps keep them fresh and safe from harmful microorganisms 7

Food Safety Basics — page 5 — What’s an Icebox An icebox was an early home refrigerator It was a wooden chest lined with metal and insulated with sawdust or seaweed A large block of ice placed inside the box kept foods cold until the ice melted A pan that collected water from the melted ice had to be emptied regularly Ice wagons brought ice directly to homes A sign placed in the window let the iceman know a delivery was needed Iceboxes did not maintain a consistent temperature but they still helped to prevent foods from spoiling 8 The invention of refrigerators in the 1800s transformed food safety Meat packers no longer had to rely on natural ice to keep their products from spoiling Refrigerated railroad cars began transporting fresh foods to widespread markets In the early 1900s refrigerators were developed for household use By the 1930s an electric refrigerator was a common appliance in kitchens across the United States By the 1950s more than 90 percent of US homes had a refrigerator Heat It Another important development in food safety came about because of milk Raw

Food Safety Basics — page 6 — YOUR LIFE Kitchen Appliances In the 1800s a stove was considered the most important kitchen appliance By the mid-1900s the refrigerator had become the most popular addition to a modern kitchen Since then microwave ovens and dishwashers have been added to the list of kitchen necessities Which kitchen appliance do you think is most important today How would your life be affected if the appliance broke down Is the appliance a convenience or is it a necessity Why Is the appliance related to food safety 9 milk or milk used directly from a cow without processing was a source of many illnesses People discovered that boiling milk helped prevent illnesses However boiling also changed the taste of the milk in a way some people did not like In the 1860s a French scientist named Louis Pasteur developed a process to keep wine from spoiling Pasteur discovered that heating wine preserved it without destroying its taste People began using this process which became known as pasteurization

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