Region's cooks consider bacteria

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas Edition

May 1, 2003 -- South Central Texans do not seem too worried about the poultry or beef they purchase being infected with salmonella or E. coli ... unless there has been a recent scare in the news.

Out of eight persons contacted, six said that on a scale of one to five (five being the highest), they would rate their concern about a one.

One consumer, Lisa Crick in Bastrop County, said she wasn't usually too worried, but did remember seeing a show concerning the "re-dating" of some poultry products that concerned her enough to rate a two.

Another consumer in Travis County, Tara Thompson, said she had to rate her concern for purchases at least at a three, since her oldest daughter was infected as a toddler, and she, herself, apparently contracted E. coli after the birth of her second child, while in the hospital.

Several of those surveyed reported they were more aware of increased inspections of meats and the government's food safety programs, which add to their feelings of security.

One of the survey participants, Judy Matejowsky in Washington County, cited she is extremely careful with the preparation of meats, especially since they operate a Bed and Breakfast and are inspected by health officials.

The numbers related to concern increased with all eight concerning the preparation of meats to lessen the chance of contamination.

All noted they are very conscious of cleaning cutting boards and cabinet tops, along with any utensils used in the preparation.

Most acknowledged that they use either a bleach, or bleach-product "wipe," to clean up after preparing the meats. All mentioned using hot, soapy water for the clean up if the bleach-product is not used.

Another item of concern was how meat is thawed, and David Greer of Austin County related he always places the meat in the refrigerator to defrost and even uses the new disposal cutting sheet on top of his cutting board.