As Canadians gather around the table for Easter celebrations this weekend, one food safety expert is reminding families to be mindful of food safety—especially when it comes to traditional meals and egg hunts.
Egg safety a top concern
Colouring and hiding hard-boiled eggs is a common Easter tradition, but Keith Warriner, a food safety professor in the department of food at the University of Guelph, urges people to be mindful of what paint they use when decorating eggs.
“We have to be careful of is the type of paint we use for the simple reason that some people actually eat the eggs afterwards. So rather than acrylic paints, which obviously have dangerous solvents in and they can seep into the egg through those pores, we use food-grade or vegetable extracts.”
He warns that eggs left unrefrigerated for more than two hours should not be eaten.
“So once you’ve painted your egg and you’re done admiring it, you put it back in the fridge. Try to consume it within five to seven days.”
Simple precautions can prevent illness: Warriner
When taking part in egg hunts, Warriner says there are some things to keep in mind to ensure safety and minimize the risk of catching a disease.
“Outside, there’s obviously lots of animals that deposit all kinds of pathogens, from viruses to parasites and other protozoan, and obviously traditional pathogens like salmonella, E.coli, Listeria,” Warriner said. “So if you are going to go egg hunting outside, don’t even consider eating the eggs afterwards.”
He encourages people to take the egg hunts inside if possible.
“Make sure the surfaces are low risk, i.e. they’re sanitary...I would certainly worry about hiding it near the garbage or in the washroom, things like that.”
What can make you sick?
Holidays like Easter can come with increased risks of foodborne illnesses due to larger gatherings, buffet-style meals and improperly stored leftovers.
“We always get this rise in food borne illnesses after we’ve had Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter,” Warriner said.
He says the most common type of bacteria that can form after large holiday meals is Clostridium perfringens.
“So this is spore-forming and survives cooking but when it wakes up, and it’s usually associated with meat and things like that, its symptoms are usually onset within 24 hours and it’s this sort of diarrhea that’ll last you for about a day. It’s usually non-fatal but the thing is, if you’re very elderly...it can cause dehydration.”
Another common type of bacteria to be aware of is Staphylococcus aureus.
“Staphylococcus aureus gives you this sort of rapid sickness within about six to 24 hours,” Warriner explained. “Typically, when we look at these large catered events, it’s those ones that are associated with the Clostridium perfringens, a Staphylococcus aureus, and even Bacillus cereus, which is to do with starchy foods like rice and potato. That basically can do two things; it’ll just give you diarrhea but for one, it can be fatal but very rare.”
He says cross contamination can also lead to foodborne illnesses like salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis and E. coli infections.
How to minimize risk of getting sick
Warriner’s top tip? To handle food with care.
“The golden rules are the cooked, chill, separate and sanitize,” he said. “So essentially when we’re cooking, we have to make sure it gets up to the right temperature, which is 73 degrees internally for things like poultry or hams or things like that. But I think the biggest sort of mistake people make in these so-called large family events is the temperature abuse. So, when you’re doing these large table buffets, just make sure seafood is on the bed of ice. Make sure that that soup or stew is in a hot pot keeping warm above 73 degrees Celsius.”
He urges to never leave food out for more than two hours between the temperatures of four degrees Celsius and 63 degrees Celsius.
Warriner also emphasizes the importance of keeping cooking surfaces clean and avoiding cross-contamination.
“You separate the raw materials from the cooked foods as well. So that’s literally different surfaces, different cutting boards, different knives.”
And when it’s time for the egg hunt, he says pack up the food and put it in your fridge straight away.
“The key point is to get those foods in the refrigerator or in the freezer,” Warriner said. “There’s no real sort of restriction on what you can freeze and what you can’t freeze.”
Handling leftovers
Leftovers should be refrigerated promptly in shallow containers to cool quickly and should be consumed within three to four days, according to Health Canada guidelines.
“With any sort of leftovers, they should be eaten within five days and if possible, reheated. Not just a little bit but reheated to 71 degrees Celsius before eating, depending on what it is,” Warriner added.
