food safety

10 Rules for Safe Canning

By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Senior Extension Educator/Food Safety Even though some may feel home canning has gone the way of the dinosaurs, I regularly get questions posed to me by newbie and experience canners alike. Some want to know how to can tomatoes without potentially killing a loved one. Others want to know if […]

Buying from Local Farms? What do FSMA Rules Mean to Produce Buyers?

Buying From Local Farms? What Do FSMA Rules Mean to Produce Buyers? On July 17, 2018 a team of regulators and produce safety educators from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are hosting an educational meeting for operations (distributors, schools, institutions, restaurants, grocery stores, foodservice operations, etc.) that buy fresh produce from farms in southern New […]

Produce Safety Training

Some medium to larger Connecticut farms need to comply with the Produce Safety Rule (PSR). This includes taking an approved food safety course, implement- ing certain practices that can minimize risk, and keeping records related to those practices. The Connecticut Department of Agriculture conducts a variety of activi- ties related to implementation of the rule, […]

Food Safety on Farms

Fruits and vegetables add important nutrients, color, variety to our diet. Most of us enjoy them raw in salads, as a snack, or dessert. However, in the last few years there has been an increase in the number of foodborne illness outbreaks asso- ciated with fresh fruits and vegetables. Spinach, cantaloupe, tomatoes, cilantro, and green […]

Lettuce Learn a Bit About E. Coli

By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Senior Extension Educator/Food Safety   Recent news reports regarding the romaine lettuce outbreak have, yet again, raised concern about pathogens in our food supply. In particular, leafy greens continue to show up as a source for outbreaks. Two outbreaks since late fall have implicated romaine and/or leafy greens. In both […]

Poop In The Garden

By: Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Extension Educator/Food Safety   Over the weekend, before the most recent snow, I looked out my kitchen window to see my dog squatting over the chive patch in our vegetable garden. It was too late to stop him. I spend a lot of time with Connecticut farmers, talking about producing […]

Basic Food Safety Practices at Home

What made you sick? Is it food you cooked at home? By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH, Senior Extension Educator/Food Safety   As winter wanes and we begin to eat more seasonally—perhaps eat more salads, raw fruits and veggies, using the barbecue—it may be a good time to take stock of our safe food preparation skills. […]

Who Keeps Our Food Supply Safe?

Who keeps our food supply safe? Rules, regulations, jurisdiction  By Diane Wright Hirsch Senior Extension Educator/Food Safety   I am often asked who to contact when someone has a concern about the regulation of our food supply. It might be a budding entrepreneur who needs to know which agency they need to contact to figure […]

Allied Health Sciences School and Family SNAP-Ed

  Last year, through the hard work of all, the Allied Health Sciences School and Family SNAP-Ed program reached 5,549 participants and 6,164 contacts via single and multiple sessions. Education focused on: 1) cooking more, economical food shopping, safe food handling; 2) improving consumption of fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy, whole grains and avoiding sweetened beverages; and 3) […]

Cook Before Eating

By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH, Senior Extension Educator/Food Safety During the holiday season, from Thanksgiving dinner through New Year’s celebrations, people who rarely spend time in the kitchen may be more likely to pick up a cookbook and make some cookies. Or, they may be stuffing their first turkey for Christmas day family dinner. Or […]

Cold Storage: A Sustainable Way to Preserve the Harvest

By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Senior Extension Educator/Food Safety A young couple I know if looking to buy their first house. She prefers older homes with character, he wants space for a big garden. They came upon an older home with a dirt basement floor….I immediately thought that it might be a good candidate for a […]

Handling Food Leftovers

So, you know how to cook a turkey until it is safe to eat; but what about handling the leftovers? By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Senior Extension Educator/Food Safety   Even though many Americans are eating more meals out of the home and some are turning to “meal kits” to make it pretty painless to cook […]

How Clean is That Refrigerator of Yours?

By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Senior Extension Educator/Food Safety The invention of mechanical refrigeration was one of the most important developments in the history of keeping food safe (others include the pasteurization of milk and commercial canning).  Ask anyone who has suffered through the aftermath of a hurricane or ice storm without the benefit of […]

Why Farmers Are Pleading: Leave Your Dogs Home

By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH UConn Extension Educator – Food Safety Over the years I have worked with many fruit and vegetable farmers, as they have become the focus of new food safety regulations. Some of these farms sell their product through pick-your-own (PYO) operations, some at an on-farm stand; others have CSA (community supported […]

Food Safety for Artisan Cheesemakers

Dr. Dennis D’Amico has been working with North Carolina State University to convert his cheese food safety workshop into an online program. They recently launched the online course: Food Safety for Artisan Cheesemakers. The course will be offered at no cost until the end of the year by using the code INTRO-FREE.   To enroll : https://foodsafety.ncsu.edu/food-safety-basics-artisan-cheesemakers/. The […]

So, You Want to Preserve Your Famous Salsa…

By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH, RD Extension Educator/Food Safety Every year, about this time, I am spending time on the phone, talking people out of canning. Well, not exactly. I strongly encourage canning as a way to preserve summer tomatoes, peaches, apples and cucumbers (often as pickles). But, invariably I will answer the phone and […]

Keeping Farm Fresh Veggies and Fruits Fresh

Keeping those farm fresh veggies and fruits fresh By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Senior Extension Educator/Food Safety   Recently I had a call from a mom asking if she should wash her berries before storing in the fridge. Her 30-something daughter, who, of course, knows everything, insisted that she should wash first. The mom wasn’t […]

Food Safety and Foodborne Illness: There Will Always Be Surprises

By:           Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Senior Extension Educator/Food Safety I took on food safety as a focus of my Extension programming in the early 1990’s: little did I know that for the next 20-plus years my food safety educator life would be full of surprises. Early on, the issues were what a consumer would […]

Meat and Poultry Hotline for Food Safety Info

USDA Expands Meat and Poultry Hotline Hours to Further Provide Food Safety Information to Consumers The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced that it is increasing the delivery of safe food handling and preparation information by expanding the hours of its Meat and Poultry Hotline and Ask Karen chat services.  […]

Spring: Egg Safety Time

Spring: A good time to remind you about egg safety By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Senior Extension Educator/Food Safety   Spring is here (at least officially) and it is always a good time to remind ourselves of how to safely handle eggs. Whether you are hard-boiling them for an Easter or Passover celebration, or looking […]

Will Food Label Confusion Go Away?

By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Senior Extension Educator/Food Safety   When teaching consumers and those who prepare food for day care centers, food pantries, shelters, and senior lunch programs, I always spend a bit of time talking about food labels. Not the nutrition labels, which can also be confusing to the average consumer, but the […]

Partnerships Create a Food Safety Culture

Extension educators from throughout the Northeast consider collaboration essential to the success of their work with fruit and vegetable growers. In 2012, regional food safety specialists from the Universities of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Cornell received a NEED-NERA (Northeast Extension and Experiment Station Directors) planning grant focused on coordinating efforts to […]

Food Safety Modernization Act Info Session

Are you still wondering how the FSMA Produce Safety Rule will affect your life and your livelihood? The University of Connecticut Extension in cooperation with the Connecticut Department of Agriculture/USDA Specialty Crops program is providing an opportunity for farmers to learn more about FSMA.   We will discuss the rule, exemptions from the rule, key […]

CYFAR Summer Experience at Auerfarm

By Sherry Gray The Auerfarm is a 4-H Education Center with 120 acres located in the northwest section of Bloomfield, Connecticut. The Farm was deeded to the non-profit Connecticut 4–H Development Fund in 1976; however; has a rich history dating back to the early years of the 20th Century. The farm served as a model […]

Creating a Food Safety Culture

A report by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published in 2013 described the increasingly evident relationship between produce and foodborne illness: over a ten year period, from 1998 to 2008, produce was responsible for 46% of diagnosed foodborne illness where a source was determined. This often surprises consumers who normally consider meat and poultry […]

Pick Your Own Apples – Avoid Those with Bird Droppings

By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Extension Educator/Food Safety Connecticut has an abundance of farms that open their gates to those who want to pick their own raspberries, apples, vegetables and other seasonal offerings. I have picked raspberries well into October in the past, though I am not sure how the hot summer and early fall have […]

Bovay Joins CAHNR

Dr. John Bovay joined the ARE Department in August as Assistant Professor with 60% extension, 25% research, and 15% teaching responsibilities. We are excited to learn more about his extension and research interests. Can you share any prior Extension and outreach experience you have? Engaging with farmers and the public through outreach and extension has always been […]

UConn Extension Hosts Fall Open House

North Haven—UConn Extension’s New Haven County Extension Center invites the public to a Fall Open House on Thursday, September 15, 2016 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at 305 Skiff Street, North Haven. The New Haven County Extension Resource Council, Inc. (NHCERC, Inc.), a volunteer organization supporting the educational outreach programs based in this center, […]

Fermentation of Vegetables at Home

Fermentation of Vegetables at Home, A Food Preservation Workshop To Be Provided By UConn Extension  Fermentation is one of the oldest methods of food preservation. All over the world it is used for the creation and the preservation of food, including beer, wine, sauerkraut, kimchi, sour pickles, grains, yogurt, etc. UConn Extension is offering a […]

What You (Probably) Did Not Know About Food Recalls

By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH UConn Extension Educator/Food Safety   Food recalls have become so commonplace that most consumers no longer pay attention. In the month of July alone, there were 46 recalls by food processors who are regulated by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) and the US Food […]

Be a Smart Consumer: Buying Local Eggs

Buying Eggs From Your Local Farmer or Backyard Producer By: Diane Wright Hirsch, Senior Extension Educator, UConn Extension   Having back yard chickens has become quite the trend. In Connecticut, many towns have instituted ordinances where none existed or where backyard farm animals were not previously allowed. In Hamden, for example, an ordinance was passed […]

Oh Nuts!

By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Senior Extension Educator/Food Safety Eggs, chicken, lettuce, sprouts, and now pistachios. Some readers may think that this association of pistachios with a Salmonellosis outbreak is unusual if not rare. Well, though not likely to be defined as “common,” in recent years a number of outbreaks have been traced to nuts […]

Listeria and Fresh Produce

What is Listeria and why is it showing up in fresh produce? By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH, RD UConn Extension Educator – Food Safety   Yet another outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes has been attributed to fresh produce: bagged lettuce in this case. You may recall the 2011 outbreak associated with cantaloupe that turned out to […]

Fermentation: Preservation with Benefits

By: Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH, RD Senior Extension Educator – Food Safety Believe it or not, winter is coming. This is a good time to think about preserving some of the vegetables that you may find in your cold cellar or at the fall farmers’ market. Cabbage, of course, but really, that is just the […]

Is Home Vacuum Packaging a Safe Way to Preserve Food?

By: Diane Wright Hirsch, Extension Educator/Food Safety   Whether you are someone who wants to store away a cache of food in case of an emergency or weather disaster or if you simply want to preserve some green beans from your garden or freeze some chicken from the farmers’ market, you may have considered purchasing […]