Spring Food Safety

Spring is here and summer is upon us, which is the time for cookouts and picnics with friends and family. During warmer weather, it is important to protect our family and ourselves from foodborne illnesses (FBI), which are diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, yeast, and parasites in our food. Symptoms of FBI are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, head ache, and fever. Some bacteria, such as botulism, can cause symptoms that can be severe and life threatening, such as problems swallowing and breathing. To keep FBI away from your picnic, here are some tips from our pediatric experts:

• Wash hands with soap and water for 15 seconds before and after preparing food and eating.
• Cook meat to proper temperature
• Turkey Thigh-180°F
• Turkey Breast-170°F
• Beef Roast/Prime Rib well done-170°F
• Hamburgers-160°F
• Pork Roast well done-170°F
• Ham 140°F
• Chicken breast-170°F
• Chicken drumstick/thigh/wing-180°F
• Sausage uncooked-160°F
• Sausage cooked-165°F
• Venison-160°F
• Fish-145°F
• Egg dishes-160°F
• Seafood-145°F
• Leftovers-165°F
• Hot foods should stay above 140 °F and cold foods below 40°F. Use ice to keep foods cold and food warmers to keep foods hot.
• Avoid keeping foods out of the temperature danger zone (40-140°F) for greater than 2 hours or 1 hour if temperature is above 90°F.
• Never thaw meats at room temperature. Thawing food in the temperature danger zone creates an environment for bacterial growth. The outside thaws before the inside, which increases the outside portion to temperatures above 40°F while the inside portion remains frozen.
• Meats should be thawed before cooking, unless food package states otherwise. This ensures that the meat cooks evenly.
• Avoid cross contamination. Use separate cutting boards for raw meats and vegetables.
• To avoid insects from coming into contact with your food, keep your meats and other dishes covered.

Enjoy the summer and keep your foods safe!

About our Expert: Shannon Burkett, RD, LD, dietician at Dayton Children's

Shannon is a gradute of Purdue University with a BA in elementary education and a graduate of Loyola University of Chicago with a DPD Dietetics and Nutrition. She completed a dietetic internship at Miami Valley Hospital and worked at WIC and long term care before coming to Dayton Children's. Shannon has worked with the Hematology and Oncology population at Dayton Children's for two years. She also has certificate in childhood and adolescent weight management through the American Dietetic Association. Her favorite hobby is cooking. She loves trying new recipes and creating meals from scratch. She says, "There is just something that is so rewarding about eating a delicious healthy meal that I have created, without using prepacked, processed foods. It’s both good for my body and my family's health!"

Green Cleaning: Avoiding Asthma and Allergy Triggers

When you have a child with asthma, spring cleaning is taken to a whole new level. You want to eliminate asthma triggers such as pollen, dust mites, mold and pet dander, but you need to be aware of how the cleaning itself can also be a trigger.

Belinda Huffman, pulmonary health and diagnostic coordinator at Dayton Children’s, has a lot of experience helping children with asthma and their families minimize exposure to triggers in the environment. Because asthma is the number-one diagnosis at Dayton Children’s, Huffman and other members of the pulmonary care team offer unparalleled expertise in caring for children with asthma and other respiratory disorders.

Belinda gives these four "green" cleaning tips to reduce asthma triggers:

1. Use your nose. Select cleaning products without strong or harsh scents. See guidelines below for choosing "healthier" cleaning products. Always follow instructions on cleaning products and keep lids and caps tightly sealed when not in use. Ingredients from solids and liquids give off vapors that we inhale and may enter our body tissues. Try to use as few cleaning products as possible. It’s not always necessary to have different products for the kitchen and bathroom.
2. Read labels. Avoid products marked "Danger" or "Poison." Reduce your use of products marked "Caution" or "Warning." Reduce your use of products containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These include aerosol sprays, cleaners, disinfectants, moth repellents and air fresheners.
3. Look for "green" products. Some have been certified by an independent institution such as GreenSeal. Just because something as a "natural-sounding" name doesn’t mean it is free of chemicals you want to avoid.
4. Make your own. You can make your own cleaning products from simple and inexpensive ingredients such as vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, salt, soap and water. There are many books and online resources to help you make your own cleaning products.

For more infomation about green cleaning and living with asthma visit our Kohl's a Minute for Kids microsite!

Ohio's New Booster Seat Law

Ohio’s Booster Seat Law will soon be in full effect

Will your child be riding safely?

After many years of hard work and advocacy, Ohio’s booster seat law will go into full effect on April 7, 2010. This new law requires children under 8 and under 4’9” tall to be restrained in a booster seat once they have outgrown their car seat. For years we have seen the devastating impact of children “graduating too early” into the adult seat belt. We know this law and education associated with it will reduce injuries and save lives.

Dayton Children's has been working hard to educate parents and caregivers about the importance of booster seats.
 
Children, 4 to 8-years-old, are too small to be protected adequately by the car’s seat belt system, which is designed for an adult. Booster seats are designed to simply lift the child up so the child fits in a vehicle seat belt system more like an adult.


If the seat belt doesn’t fit a child, he or she tends to move away from the vehicle seatback creating space behind the child which may allow for the child to be ejected. Some children may also tuck the shoulder belt behind their back leaving no upper body protection which could result in severe injury to the abdomen, neck and head.

In addition, without a booster seat, an adult seat belt can actually cause injury in the event of a crash rather than preventing it. For instance, if the lap belt rests on your child’s stomach, which typically happens without a booster seat, your child could suffer liver, spleen, or spinal cord damage in a crash.

Make sure your child is riding safety in a booster seat with tips from Dayton Children's.  If you have questions regarding your car or booster seat consider attending one of our local community car seat checks.