by Randall Colburn
When’s the last time you saw a celebrity chef wash their hands? Or use a meat thermometer? Or not dip their filthy fingers into some bubbling sauce? According to Insurance Journal, a recent study conducted by food safety experts from Kansas State University and Tennessee State University sought to answer those questions and determine the state of food safety among celebrity chefs. They surveyed 100 cooking shows with 24 different chefs. The results? Not great, Bob.
“Twenty-three percent of chefs licked their fingers; that’s terrible,” said Edgar Chambers IV, one of the experts behind the study. “Twenty percent touched their hair or dirty clothing or things and then touched food again.” Whose hair? Guy Fieri or Anne Burrell? According to the study, TV chefs rarely wash their hands, swap out cutting boards, or check the temperature of their meat. Chambers and his fellow researchers aren’t advocating for an hour of safety tips, but rather a running awareness that can serve as a good example for home cooks. The hope is a reduction in foodborne illnesses, which the study says affect 1 in 6 Americans each year.
Chambers elaborates: “All celebrity chefs have to do is mention these things as they go along: ‘Remember to wash your hands,’ ‘Don’t forget to change out your cutting board,’ or ‘I washed my hands here’—which some chefs did do. They don’t have to show it on television but they should remind viewers that there are safety issues involved in food preparation.” Maybe FlavorTown U.S.A.’s newest resident will be a health inspector.
source: http://www.avclub.com/article/new-study-finds-celebrity-chefs-suck-food-safety-t-247816
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paul valin,exec chef Wyndham New Yorker
January 5, 2017
the article is true- seems the show and “personality” of the chef is primary-
I have noticed a couple of exceptions- Lidia Bastianich explains in detail how to sanitize a surface and cutting board with a small amount of bleach- and seems to do her tasting with a spoon that gets set aside somewhere- and Martha Stewart does emphasize the need to clean utensils, boards and sink area after dealing with poultry – Nothing’s perfect but it’s better than many- as Julia always pointed out when handling different items that you would take it ” in your perfectly cleaned hands,” .
joyinthearts
January 3, 2017
What A GREAT article! This is one of my pet peeves with cooking shows. Even when chefs mention cleaning up, nothing educates and drives the point home like viewers SEEING (viewing) them doing it – – so what if it adds another 2-3 minutes of show time, cut one commercial break. Thank you for such a long overdue article.
JMS
>>>>>
I like to think that when LIGO and its progeny finally reach the gravity waves at the beginning of the Big Bang, there will be God giving them a raspberry and the finger. JMS-2016
When a recipe is prefaced with the word “Healthy,” people tend to avoid it. I know I do. . .
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On Tue, Jan 3, 2017 at 12:56 PM, US Food Safety wrote:
> foodsafeguru posted: “by Randall Colburn When’s the last time you saw a > celebrity chef wash their hands? Or use a meat thermometer? Or not dip > their filthy fingers into some bubbling sauce? According to Insurance > Journal, a recent study conducted by food safety experts from” >