tee A, F'oop 51 - Wednesday, May 17, 1989 - North Shore News Take precautions to avoid food poisoning ISN’T IT awful when you leok at your kitchen and the only thing you want to serve is a dish of food for the cats? I’ve not figured out a way to skip feeding them, especially Emily who has more yowls than a soprano warming up for an aria. I hit that point last Saturday and fired a pan of hamburger into some taco shells. I was so desper- ate for something easy to cook that I paid $1.79 Ib. for fresh tomatoes. Ugly, greenish things they were, too. It didn’t help that 1’d just barely recovered from a bout of suspected food poisoning, encouraged by a meal from a local restaurant. I narrated my symptoms to a friend with vast experience in the restaurant industry and he con- cluded that salmonella was the likely culprit and guessed that it budget beaters Barbara McCreadie may have had a bit to do with the hollandaise sauce. Who knows? “Did you phone the restau- rant?”? my friends asked. What for? One of the most dif- ficult things in the world to pin- point is a case of food poisoning. I can underline my _ source because 1 hadn’t eaten anything else in the previous 24 hours except a few dry crackers and oranges. You don’t get sick eating that stuff. I trained in the faculty of home economics, UBC. One thing I remember clearly — ‘‘There’s no such thing as the 24-hour ‘flu.’ You can get the 26-ounce flu and food poisoning."’ A professor with anice way with words. Food poisoning is no joke. It differs in symptoms depending on the source, and you’re damn lucky if it’s only salmonella that hits you. Some of the other sutff can lead you to respirators and a stint in the hospitai, providing you live that long. That stuff is called botulism and none of us needs it. Another hazard for food handlers is the joy of hepatitis. Am I spoiling your appetite? That ill- tess is directly caused by infected persons failing to wash their hands between trips to the bathroom and tossing your salad. Summer is an added health hazard. It warms up around here and bacteria love it. They’re nasty little critters and thrive on dirt. The cleanest iooking kitchen can be as dirty as hell. Hand-washed dishes and wooden chopping boards are the worst culprits. Do yourself a favor this sum- mer. Immediately scrub chopping blocks with hot soap and water. Rinse with a solution containing a bit of household bleach. Add the same bleach solution to any hand-washed dishes, during the rinse phase. Air dry, covered lightly with a (bleached) clean towel. Refrigerate! Toss anything that has been sitting on a buffet table for more than an hour. Wash your hands often and insist your kids do the same. Use paper towels instead of the fluffy kind. Botulisin is a whole different ball game. The bacteria live in soil, where all our veggies originate. Home canning is generally the source. That. and stuff like garlic-oil compounds that are kept unrefrigerated. How do we protect ourselves? First, if you’re doing any home canning, the only safe way is pressure-canning at the time and pressure specified by the manufac- turer. Pickles should also be processed. Usually, 15 minutes in a boiling- water bath is sufficient and organ- isms have a tough time living in brine. I can’t believe my Grade 8 textbook, Foods, Nutrition and Home Management Manual — it honestly advocates ‘‘oven caun- ing.” it’s a wonder our wheie gen- eration didn’t die of Oootulism. Don’t even think of it. Botulism lives in air-tight seals. The top of your canning jar may look just right, inverted and all that. Unless it’s been properly processed, you could die. Ugly death, too. Freeze! Pickle in brine! Cook fresh vegetables and _ refrigerate promptly. Introduce yourself to a boitle of bleach, about % cup in a sinkful of rinse water. Air-dry dishes, covered. Mix salad dress- ings into salads at the last minute, See Hints Pege 52 IF YOU ARE AN EMPLOYER ® wanting to hire heip now; ® able to train on the job; and © interested in wage assistance during the training period, date skills on the job. ASK US ABOUT EMPLOYMENT PLUS! EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM FOR PRIVATE SECTOR BUSINESSES, NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS - AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS . Receive Half of an Employee’s Wage You can heip ease your workload, and receive 50% of an employee's wage, up to $3.50 per hour assistance, when you hire and train someone now receiving income assistance from the Ministry of Social Services and Hous- ing. We’il help you, while you help someone develop or up- 1 tf FOR REGISTERED NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS Receive All of an Employee's Wage You can raceive 100% of an employee's wage, the wages. up to $7.00 per hour, plus a supervisor's wage, when you hire and train someone in a project leaving 2 tourism legacy in your community. . If you can provide materiais and can offer in- . come assistance recipients jobs that provide ° Use This Program to: Ask Us About Your Project! The Employment Plus group of programs is part of a $25.7 million conti- nuing commitment from your provincial government to help income assistance recipients get back into the work force by assisting British Col- umbia employers to hire and train. Employment Plus gives people receiving income assistance the oppor- tunity to develop or update skills while training on the job. This work (Province of British Columbia Ministry of Social Services and Housing Honourable Claude Richmond. Minister COMMUNITY TOURISM EMPLOYMENT TRAINING PROGRAM work experience and develop skills, we'll pay organize festivals and special events; create or upgrade tourist and recreation areas; construct or complete arts and sports facilities. job I'm offering. To Qualify As an employer, you must be able to: ® create an additional job for 30 to 40 hours per week for a minimum of 2 months; and © pay at least the provincial minimum wage; and ® provide a trainee with work experience ana job skills. “It's taken a ict of pressure otf me. They've already J pre-screensd the applicants and. . . the applicant | has already expressed an aptitude for the type of { COMMUNITY! Trevor Eastveld Pets Pantry, Vancouver ENVIRONMENT YOUTH CORPS A component of the Environment Youth Corps provides work experience and job skills to income assistance recipients between 17 and 24 years through park improvement projects in both rural and urban areas throughout British Columbia. This is made possible through the co-operation -IT’S.GOOD-FOR:PEOPLE! of the Ministry of Environnient, the Ministry of Tourism and Provincial Secretary, and the Ministry of Social Services and Housing. experience can be their first step to permanent employment and an indep endent and secure future. Employment Plus is a major commitment under a federal/provincial agree- meni to provide employment opportunities for income assistance recipients. FOR PROGRAM DETAILS AND APPLICATION FORMS, CONTACT YOUR NEAREST DISTRICT OFFICE. In Vancouver and the Lower Mainland Talephone: €69-5888 (9:00 - 5:00 Monday - Friday) COLUMBIA. 7.0) ~~