Just chill: Kansas State University researchers study how to keep 1xbet online casino lunches safe on field trips
Monday, Feb. 11, 2019
The Center for 1xbet online casino Safety in Child Nutrition Programs and the 1xbet online casino Science Institute test typical school lunch foods served on field trips to determine risk of Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes growth.| Download this photo.
MANHATTAN — The 1xbet online casino field trip is a springtime ritual: Buses practically burst with exuberant children who are happy to learn outside classroom walls. But packed lunches coupled with warm temperatures could allow dangerous bacteria to flourish and sicken the travelers.
Researchers with the Kansas State 1xbet online casino Center for 1xbet online casino Safety in Child Nutrition Programs in the College of Human Ecology and the 1xbet online casino Science Institute in the animal sciences and industry department have published a study confirming that limiting the time lunches are stored in coolers to less than four hours may reduce the risk of salmonella and listeria monocytogenes growth in a typical 1xbet online casino lunch of deli sandwiches, apple slices and baby carrots. The article is featured in the January/February issue of 1xbet online casino Protection Trends, a publication of the International Association for 1xbet online casino Protection.
Randy Phebus, professor of animal sciences and industry and interim director of the 1xbet online casino Science Institute, said 1xbet online casino safety is often at the back of everyone's mind when field trip excitement hits.
"Spring or summertime heat can cause a school bus waiting in a hot parking lot to reach temperatures that could compromise 1xbet online casino stored for a later lunch," Phebus said. "We wanted to know what level of risk this scenario actually poses to schoolchildren."
To conduct the experiment, Phebus and co-investigator Sara Gragg, assistant professor of animal sciences and industry, packed sack lunches in coolers with either no ice or one layer of ice on the bottom and exposed them to simulated temperatures on school buses using ovens in the Biosecurity Research Institute 1xbet online casino processing suite at Kansas State University. They inoculated lunches with bacteria and tested for growth during particular time frames and from different areas of the cooler — and thus different distances from the ice. The simulated conditions and products types were selected based on a 2015 study conducted by the Center for 1xbet online casino Safety in Child Nutrition Programs and published in the Journal of Child Nutrition & Management.
"The study was designed to simulate a high-risk scenario regarding temperature abuse of the 1xbet online casino products, so the fact that bacterial growth was not observed suggests time can be effectively used as a public health control on school field trips," Gragg said.
The researchers emphasize that controlling time and temperature is critical to protecting 1xbet online casino against foodborne pathogen growth during storage.
"This study suggests that foodborne illness risk is low when school lunches are held under temperature abuse conditions on a bus for up to four hours," Gragg said. "However, it's important to remember that we only investigated three 1xbet online casino products and two foodborne pathogens, so our results are somewhat limited."
The researchers recommend that anyone packing coolers for field trips use plenty of ice to keep 1xbet online casino cold, which is the ultimate defense against temperature increases that support bacteria growth. Cooler storage on school buses with elevated temperatures should also be avoided whenever possible. More studies are planned to test additional 1xbet online casino products and foodborne pathogens using the same simulated high-risk scenario.
Additional researchers on the team were Nicholas Sevart, doctoral student in 1xbet online casino safety; Paola Paez, research associate professor for the Center for 1xbet online casino Safety in Child Nutrition Programs; Amanda Wilder, 2016 master's degree graduate in 1xbet online casino science; and Tracee Watkins, doctoral student in hospitality management.
The study was partially funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
