Food Safety for the Visually Impaired

During our lifetime, we spend countless hours shopping for food in the grocery store and countless hours preparing and eating meals. As the years pass, our ability to prevent dangerous bacteria from entering our body has changed with our age and our health. New ways of producing and processing the food that we buy has introduced new and dangerous microorganisms that increase our risk of illness. Science has even discovered that some illnesses we already have can be linked to bacteria in food. Did you know that some kinds of arthritis can be traced to food borne illness? Food in our local grocery stores is no longer grown in the local community; rather, it comes from all over the world. Science has also determined that some people; including those over 65, pregnant women, young children, and those with weakened immune systems; are more susceptible to getting sick from bacteria from food. It is difficult to tell if food is unsafe because it is hard to see, smell, or taste the bacteria it may contain.

While dangerous, food borne illness can be easily prevented by following the four basic rules of food safety. Those rules are CLEAN, SEPARATE, COOK, AND CHILL. For the visually impaired, it is important to establish a routine to which you can be faithful. Relying on your knowledge of the risk of illness will help you stick to this routine and will eventually make it easy. There are many adaptive devices that can assist you in the kitchen if you are visually impaired. In addition, having your appliances marked and learning specific techniques that can help you use your residual vision and other senses will assist you in safely carrying out all of your culinary tasks, including the safe handling and preparation of food.

CLEAN: WASH HANDS & SURFACES OFTEN

• Wash you hands with hot soapy water before and after handling food and after using the bathroom, changing diapers, and handling pets.
• Wash your cutting boards, dishes, utensils, and counter tops with hot soapy water after preparing each food item and before you go on to the next food. Use kitchen sanitizers periodically for added protection.
• Replace cutting boards when they become excessively worn or develop hard to clean grooves.
• Use paper towels to clean up kitchen surfaces. Otherwise, wash cloth towels often in the hot cycle of your washer.
• Rinse raw produce in water. If necessary, use a small vegetable brush to remove dirt.

SEPARATE: DON’T CROSS CONTAMINATE

Cross contamination is how bacteria can jump from one food to another. This is important to prevent, especially when it comes to raw meat, poultry, and seafood. These foods and their juices should be kept apart from foods that will not be cooked.

• Separate raw meat, poultry, and seafood from other foods in your shopping cart and in your refrigerator.
• Use a different cutting board for raw meat.
• Always wash hands, cutting boards, dishes, and utensils with hot soapy water after they come in contact with raw meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, and unwashed fresh produce.
• Place cooked food on a clean plate to avoid bacteria left there from when the food was uncooked.

COOK: COOK TO PROPER TEMPERATURES

Foods are properly cooked when they are heated for a long enough time and at a high enough temperature to kill harmful bacteria. To achieve this, food experts strongly encourage the use of food thermometers. There are several different kinds of reliable talking food thermometers to choose from. The following guideline and temperatures are recommended by the Food and Drug Administration and by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and Food Safety Inspection Service:

• Use a clean food thermometer to make sure foods are properly cooked all the way through.
• Cook roasts and steaks to at least 145 degrees; whole poultry to 180 degrees for doneness in the thigh; chicken breast to 170 degrees.
• Cook ground beef, where bacteria can spread during processing, to at least 160 degrees. Check with thermometer.
• Cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm. Feel for the texture with your cooking utensil.
• Fish should flake easily with a fork. Feel for texture.
• When cooking with the microwave, make sure there are no cold spots in food where bacteria can survive. To do this, cover food, stir and rotate the dish by hand once or twice during cooking if you don’t have a turntable. Use the food thermometer to make sure foods have reached a safe internal temperature.
• For reheating, leftovers should be heated to 165 degrees. Bring sauces, soup and gravy to a boil. Use a boiling disk if you cannot determine when boiling occurs.
• Ready to eat foods can be recontaminated after they have been processed and packaged. These foods include hot dogs, lunch meats, cold cuts, fermented and dry sausage, and other deli style meat and poultry products. Reheat them until they are steaming hot. Wash your hands with hot, soapy water after handling these foods. Also wash cutting boards, dishes, and utensils to eliminate any bacteria from the food before it’s been reheated.

CHILL: THE 2 HOUR RULE

Discard any perishable food left at room temperature after 2 hours. (When temperatures are above 90 degrees, discard food after one hour). Talking and low vision watches are available to help you keep track of time.

• When you purchase hot food, keep it hot. Eat your food within 2 hours. If you are not eating within 2 hours, keep your food in the oven set at a high enough temperature to keep the food at or above 140 degrees. Use a talking food thermometer to check. Side dishes must also stay in the oven. Covering the food will help keep it moist. However, your cooked food will taste better if you don’t try to keep it in the oven for too long. For best taste, refrigerate the food and then reheat it when you are ready. Here are some tips:
• Divide meat or poultry into small portions to refrigerate or freeze.
• Refrigerate or freeze gravy, potatoes, and other vegetables in shallow containers.
• Remove stuffing from whole cooked poultry and refrigerate.
• Cold food should be eaten within 2 hours or refrigerated or frozen for another time.
• You may wish to reheat your meal, whether it was purchased hot and then refrigerated or purchased cold initially. Here’s how:
• Heat the food thoroughly to 165 degrees until hot and steaming.
• Bring gravy to a rolling boil.
• If heating in a microwave, cover food and rotate the dish for even cooking and elimination of cold spots.
• Doggie Bags – Don’t bring it home if you will not be arriving home within 2 hours of being served.
• The inside of a car can get very warm. Go directly home and put your leftovers in the refrigerator.

*The recommendations in this packet were provided by the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and Food Inspection Services. This information was provided in large print and on cassette as a service to the visually impaired by Sight Loss Services, a non-profit, human service organization serving the visually impaired on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket.

Cooking Devices for the Visually Impaired

Talking cooking thermometer
Flame Retardant Elbow Length Oven Mitt
Double Spatula
“Say When” Liquid Level Indicator
Talking Microwave
Egg Rings
Egg Separator
Low vision cutting board
Low vision kitchen timer
Talking kitchen scale
Cup At A Time Beverage Maker
Easy Measure Salt and Pepper Dispensers
Multi colored Measuring Spoons and Cups
Boil Alert Disk
No Spill Ice Tray

Back to Resource Page