Safety Tips: October - December 2000

October 2000 submitted by Debbie Burnside

Although Halloween is an exciting time for children, the eagerly-anticipated costumes, candy, and trick-or-treating can also pose safety hazards. To help ensure a safe and fun Halloween for your children, select safe costumes and accompany them on their trick-or-treat outings. The following tips are provided for your Halloween safety.

• Allow your child to trick-or-treat only at the homes of friends or neighbors you know personally.
  
• Give your child a flashlight to help guide his or her way.
  
• Make sure your child's costume (including wig and mask) is flame resistant.
  
• Apply reflective tape or buy inexpensive wrist and ankle bands to ensure your child is visible in the dark.
  
• Inspect all of your child's treats before allowing him or her to sample any. Discard anything not in its original and undamaged wrapper. Keep homemade food only if you are certain who prepared it.
  
• Cut open all fruit and inspect for foreign objects, like razor blades.
  
• Call the Poison Control Center if you suspect your child has swallowed something harmful.
  
• Notify the police of any suspicious treats.
  
• Avoid masks, scarves, and hats that obscure vision or restrict breathing. Costume accessories, such as swords and knives, should be of soft, flexible material. Avoid capes that pose a strangulation risk.
  
• Use non-toxic face paints.
  
• Have your child wear sneakers or other comfortable walking shoes rather than high heels or shoes that could cause a fall.
  
• Consider throwing a Halloween party for your child and his or her friends instead of extended trick-or-treating.
  

November 2000 submitted by John Hyman

Holiday Food Safety Tips:

The holidays are for friends, family, and food. It's also a time many people are at risk of foodborne illness. Each year, an estimated 80 million Americans suffer from foodborne illness. To keep friends and family safe this holiday season, follow these safety tips:

• Don't cross contaminate ready-to-eat foods with raw foods (especially meats!). Never let cooked foods touch the same plates, utensils, cutting boards or counter tops already used for raw meats and poultry. So wash cutting boards, knives, utensils, and counter tops frequently with hot, soapy water or in a dishwasher, especially when changing food items.
  
• Store meats and seafood on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator so the juices do not drip onto other foods.
  
• Cook food at proper temperatures. Be sure that all meats are prepared at proper temperature to ensure that bacteria does not survive the cooking process. Beef, veal, and pork should reach an internal temperature of 170 F.
  
• Chicken and turkey should reach an internal temperature of at least 185 degrees F. Eggs should be cooked until the yolk and egg white are firm, not runny.
  
• If you are stuffing a turkey, precook the stuffing to at least 165 degrees F prior to adding it to the turkey.
  
• Wash hands frequently when food is being prepared. Bacteria can easily be transmitted to kitchen surfaces by hands. Wash hands often in hot, soapy water.
  
• Properly thaw turkeys. Depending on the size of the turkey, thawing can be an extended process. Turkeys can be safely thawed in a number of ways.
  
• Thawing in a refrigerator, microwave, or conventional oven are all acceptable methods for thawing. An alternative method is to thaw the turkey in an ice chest until the air temperature in the chest starts to rise above 45 degrees F.
  

About five days ago, my 26-year-old son decided to have a cup of instant coffee. He took a cup of water and put it in the microwave to heat it up (something that he had done numerous times before). I am not sure how long he set the timer for but he told me he wanted to bring the water to a boil. When the microwave shut off, he removed the cup. As he looked into the cup he noted that the water was not boiling but instantly the water in the cup "blew up" into his face. The cup remained intact until he threw it out of his hand but all the water had flown out into his face due to the buildup of energy. His whole face is blistered and he has first and second degree burns on his face, which may leave scarring. He may have lost partial sight in his left eye. At the hospital, the doctor who was attending to him stated that this is a fairly common occurrence and that water (alone) should never be heated in a microwave oven. If water is heated in this manner, something should be placed in the cup to diffuse the energy such as a wooden stir stick, tea bag, etc. It is, however, a much safer choice to boil the water in a tea kettle. Here is the scientific explanation: ". . . This phenomenon is caused by super-heating. It can occur anytime water is heated and will particularly occur if the vessel that the water is heated in is new. What happens is that the water heats faster than the vapor bubbles can form. If the cup is very new then it is unlikely to have small surface scratches inside it that provide a place for the bubbles to form. As the bubbles cannot form and release some of the heat that has built up, the liquid does not boil, and the liquid continues to heat up well past its boiling point. Then what usually happens is that the liquid is bumped or jarred, which is just enough of a shock to cause the bubbles to rapidly form and expel the hot liquid. The rapid formation of bubbles is also why a carbonated beverage spews when opened after having been shaken. . .