Food Safety Tips for Healthy Holidays

Parties, family dinners, and other gatherings where food is served are all part of the holiday cheer; however, this can change to misery if food makes you or others ill.

Typical symptoms of foodborne illness are stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea, which often start a few days after consuming contaminated food or drink. The symptoms usually are not long-lasting in healthy people—a few hours or a few days—and go away without treatment.
But foodborne illness can be severe and even life-threatening to those most at risk:

• older adults
• infants and young children
• pregnant women
• people with HIV/AIDS, cancer, or any condition that weakens their immune systems


Practicing four basic food safety measures can help prevent foodborne illness.

1. Clean: The first rule of safe food preparation in the home is to keep everything clean.

• Wash hands with warm water and soap for 20 seconds before and after handling food.
• Wash food-contact surfaces (cutting boards, dishes, utensils, countertops) with hot, soapy water after preparing each food item and before going on to the next item.
• Rinse fruits and vegetables thoroughly under running water and use a produce brush to remove surface dirt.
• Do not rinse raw meat and poultry before cooking. Washing these foods makes it more likely for bacteria to spread to areas around the sink and countertops.


2. Separate: Don't give bacteria the opportunity to spread from one food to another (cross-contaminate).

• Keep raw meat, poultry, and seafood and their juices away from foods that won't be cooked while shopping in the store, and while preparing and storing at home.
• Consider using one cutting board only for foods that will be cooked (raw meat, poultry, and seafood) and another one only for ready-to-eat foods (such as raw fruits and vegetables).
• Do not put cooked meat on an unwashed plate that has held raw meat.


3. Cook: Food is safely cooked when it reaches a high enough internal temperature to kill harmful bacteria.

• Color is not a reliable indicator of doneness. Use a food thermometer to make sure meat, poultry, and fish are cooked to a safe internal temperature. To check a turkey for safety, insert a food thermometer into the innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast. The turkey is safe when the temperature reaches 165ºF. If the turkey is stuffed, the temperature of the stuffing should be 165ºF. Make sure oysters in oyster dressing are thoroughly cooked.
• Bring sauces, soups, and gravies to a rolling boil when reheating.
• Cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm. When making your own eggnog or other recipe calling for raw eggs, use pasteurized shell eggs, liquid or frozen pasteurized egg products, or powdered egg whites.
• Don't eat uncooked cookie dough, which may contain raw eggs.


4. Chill: Refrigerate foods quickly because harmful bacteria grow rapidly at room temperature.

• Refrigerate leftovers and takeout foods within two hours.
• Set your refrigerator no higher than 40ºF and the freezer at 0ºF. Check both periodically with an appliance thermometer.
• Never defrost food at room temperature. Food can be defrosted safely in the refrigerator, under cold running water, or in the microwave. Food thawed in cold water or in the microwave should be cooked immediately.
• Allow the correct amount of time to properly thaw food. For example, a 20-pound turkey needs four to five days to thaw completely when thawed in the refrigerator.
• Don't taste food that looks or smells questionable. A good rule to follow is, when in doubt, throw it out.

FDA Food Information Line: 1-888-SAFEFOOD (1-888-723-3366)

USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline
1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) TTY 1-800-256-7072

Be safe for the Holidays!!

Lupus Walk 11/07/09

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month

Diabetes is a disease in which blood glucose levels are above normal. Most of the food we eat is turned into glucose, or sugar, for our bodies to use for energy.
The pancreas, an organ that lies near the stomach,makes a hormone called insulin to help glucose get into the cells of our bodies. When you have diabetes, your body either doesn't make enough insulin or can't use its own insulin as well as it should. This causes sugar to build up in your blood.


Remember this:

Type I Diabetes (insulin dependent)
Type II Diabetes (non-insulin dependent)

Of the 15.7 million people with diabetes in the United States, more than half (8.1 million) are women. Minority racial and ethnic groups are the hardest hit by type 2 diabetes; the prevalence is at least 2-4 times higher among black, Hispanic, American Indian, and Asian Pacific Islander women than among white women.
(credits to CDC)

How do you know if you have diabetes?

• Are you often thirsty, hungry, or tired?
• Do you urinate often?
• Do you have sores that heal slowly, tingling in your feet, or
blurry eyesight?

These MAY be signs of diabetes. Even without these signs, you
could still have diabetes. Ask your doctor to test you for diabetes as a part of your annual physical.

Our Speaker is Awesome, Ericka D. Jackson

ETS 09 Pictures

THANK YOU FOR MAKING ESCAPE 2 SISTERHOOD 09 A SUCCESS!

October 24, 2009

Dear Escapers!

On behalf of Escape to Sisterhood, we would like to thank you for being a generous Participant/Sponsor of the 2nd annual Escape to Sisterhood Weekend on October 9th through 11th, 2009. Due to your support, the event was a great success and helped to raise awareness in all aspects of health & wellness-in addition to promoting relaxation and emotional healing for these women.

Your support for our event helped us to emphasize the importance for everyone to take time to network, counsel and escape from the stressful daily activities in their life-an important message for women everywhere.

We have received feedback from the participants of the event stating the event was “fun, relaxing, educational, and renewing to the spirit”. Our ultimate goal is to raise awareness issues critical to improving the life of all women regardless of race everywhere. Your support gives us the inspiration to continue educating women on the importance of renewing the mind, body and spirit. We will continue this event annually and wish to continue your support in the future.

Thanks again for your support!
Most Sincerely,

Escape to Sisterhood Committee:
Suprena Hickman
Shequanna Pulliam
Stephanie Willis
Sandra Lewis
Latoya Baldwin