Food borne illness can be severe or even life-threatening for people who have cancer or who are on chemotherapy.  And those of us whose GI tracts have been affected by colorectal cancer treatment have special reasons to avoid the vomiting and diarrhea that can result from contaminated food.

The Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety Tips for Healthy Holidays is a good reminder of how to avoid getting sick. 

Typical symptoms of food borne illness are stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea which develop within a few days of eating contaminated food.  While these usually get better without treatment in healthy adults, children, the elderly, pregnant women, and those whose immune systems are weakened by cancer, HIV/AIDS, or other conditions are at risk for serious problems.

The FDA promotes four basic safety measures to prevent food borne illness:

Clean

• Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 minutes before and after handling food.  Teach your children to sing Happy Birthday twice to make sure they wash long enough.
• Wash cutting boards and other surfaces after preparing each item.
• Rinse fruits and vegetables under running water and use a brush to scrub off surface dirt.
• Don’t rinse raw meat or poultry before cooking.  This makes it easier to spread bacteria.

Separate

• Keep raw meat and poultry separated from foods that won’t be cooked while shopping, storing at home, and preparing.
• Have two cutting boards:  one for meat and poultry, one for veggies and other foods that are served without cooking.
• Never put cooked meat back on the plate that held the raw meat.

Cook

• Cook food until it reaches an internal temperature high enough to kill bacteria, and use a thermometer to test.  Don’t rely on color.
• Don’t nibble cookie dough which might contain raw eggs.
• Cook eggs until yolk and whites are firm, and never use raw eggs in eggnog or similar recipes.
• Reheat gravy, sauces, and soups to a rolling boil.

Chill

• Refrigerator leftovers within two hours.
• Keep your refrigerator temperature at 40 degrees or less, your freezer below zero.
• Never defrost foods at room temperature.  Food can be safely defrosted in the refrigerator, under running cold water, or in the microwave.  But if you use running water or a microwave, cook immediately!
• Take enough time to defrost completely before cooking.  If a turkey is still frozen on the inside, the outside will be cooked before the inside is hot enough to destroy dangerous bacteria.
• Never taste food that is old or smells funny.  When in doubt, throw it out.
Technorati tags: food safety, food borne illness

The Labor HHS veto override did not pass with enough votes last night. The Yeas did not have the 2/3 majority required to override President Bush.

Congress has now left for Thanksgiving recess. They will return December 4th to begin the process of revamping the spending bill and trying to finish all other legislative business before the end of the year.

I have attached the Roll Call vote, and encourage everyone to contact their Member of Congress and express either your gratitude for their YES vote or your disappointment in their NO vote. Hold them accountable!

As I wrote in yesterday’s blog, President Bush vetoed the Labor, Health and Human Service, and Education Spending bill for Fiscal Year 2008. This bill contained a 3.1 percent increase for the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The bill now returns to the Congress for a veto override vote. This is a chance for Congress to hold the President to task and force him to properly fund these programs and provide for advancement in research.

Please take this time to contact your Member of Congress and urge them to vote YES for the override. I have attached a list of target members.

If you see your Representative’s name on this list please get on the phone ASAP! Timing is of the essence.

The Group Room cancer talk radio program will focus on colon cancer, as well as other gastrointestinal cancers on Sunday, November 18.

• The Group Room
• Featuring Heinz-Josef Lenz MD and Andrew Giusti PhD
• Sunday, November 18, 2007
• 4 to 6 PM (Eastern)  1 to 3 PM (Pacific)
• Call in: 1-800-GRP-ROOM (1-800-477-7666)

Selma Schimmel will lead a discussion of advances in colorectal cancer screening and treatment, new therapeutic options, and risk reduction.  Guests will also update listeners on current research and clinical trials.

Featured speakers:

• Heinz=Josef Lenz MD is Director of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Program at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine and Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles.  He is also the Scientific Director of the Cancer Genetics Program.
• Andrew Giusti PhD is the Research Program Manager for C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition.

The Group Room is available on many local radio stations, XM Satellite Radio, and streamed via the Internet.  To find a radio station in your area or connect to the Internet broadcast go to Vital Options International.

Listeners can ask questions or join the conversation by calling toll-free 1-800-GRP-ROOM.

President Bush vetoed the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education spending bill today. The bill would increase funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by 3.1 percent over Fiscal Year 2007.

The Bush Administration has been in a fight with Congress over their domestic spending level and has threatened to veto any bill above what was proposed by his Administration.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, had this to say. “With today’s veto, the president has shown once again how out of touch and out of step he is with the values of America’s families,” he said. “Cancer research, investments in our schools, job training, protecting workers, and many other urgent priorities have all fallen victim to a president who squanders billions of dollars in Iraq but is unwilling to invest in America’s future.” (The Washington Post)

The bill will now be sent back to Congress for a veto override vote.