Keep Your Pet Safe on July 4th and Safe Food Handling

The 4th of July is coming up quick. I don't know about your dogs, but mine will be a quivering mass by the time the night is over. My two brave 80 pound German Shepherds will be totally convinced that they are lap dogs. I put in a link for tips to help your dogs during this noisy time, just look below.

I am also giving you a link for a wood carver site. I have never seen anything like this.

Couple of tips on avoiding food poisoning. The consumption of fruits and vegetables is up all over the USA and I hope the rest of the world. People are trying to get healthy. However, the way fruits are grown in most places leaves you open to serious intestinal upsets.

According to Daily Health News....Produce-borne illness is also on the rise and has now surpassed meats, poultry and eggs as the cause of large-scale outbreaks of food-borne illnesses...Produce grows in nature where it could be exposed to bird and animal feces and sometimes polluted water. Furthermore, much of the produce today undergoes additional steps on its journey from the field to the table. Heads of lettuce are wrapped, many are shredded and bagged, some are put out as part of a salad bar. Fruits get peeled, chunked and tucked into plastic containers. And unfortunately, the more food is handled, the more opportunities there are for contamination from nature or from human hands.

Check produce carefully before you buy it and avoid any that is cracked. Tomatoes and Melons especially absorb toxins through those cracks. Wash all produce before you eat it by rinsing thoroughly under running water -- this includes melons and bagged greens even though the label says they are prewashed. DO NOT USE Dishsoap. Dishsoap is one of the most toxic things under your sink. However, do not just soak your salad greens or fruits. If you stick everything in the sink to soak, you simply allow any nasty stuff to spread to everything in the sink.

Use safe handling practices just as you would with meat or chicken. Use a clean knife and a clean cutting surface. Wash your hands. Remove the spots or brown areas from fruit. Those spots are areas that have begun to decay.

Once you have cleaned all that lovely fresh produce----store it in the refrigerator. Any pathogens that might be left cannot grow in the refrigerator.

Now you might be thinking that you are going to peel that fruit or just slice the melon and not eat the rind so why wash. Picture this. The rind has pesticides all over it. You don't wash it clean. You cut the fruit and just push the pesticides into the fruit simply by cutting into the dirty rind. Now you stack the cut fruit on a plate and the exposed fruit bumps up against another piece of fruit rind and you have more contamination.

Don't tell me that in the old days you didn't have to do that. My grandmother washed every piece of fruit and every vegetable that came into her house.

Car Talk: "The rather interesting new field of auto-carving"

Keep Your Pet Safe on July 4th: "To protect your pet on the Fourth of July, take these precautions:

Resist the urge to take your pet to fireworks displays.

Do not leave your pet in the car. With only hot air to breathe inside a car, your pet can suffer serious health effects, even death, in a few short minutes. Partially opened windows do not provide sufficient air, but do provide an opportunity for your pet to be stolen.

Keep your pets indoors at home in a sheltered, quiet area. Some animals can become destructive when frightened, so be sure that you've removed any items that your pet could destroy or that would be harmful to your pet if chewed. Leave a television or radio playing at normal volume to keep him company while you're attending Fourth of July picnics, parades, and other celebrations.

If you know that your pet is seriously distressed by loud noises like thunder, consult with your veterinarian before July 4th for ways to help alleviate the fear and anxiety he or she will experience during fireworks displays.

Never leave pets outside unattended, even in a fenced yard or on a chain. In their fear, pets who normally wouldn't leave the yard may escape and become lost, or become entangled in their chain, risking injury or death.

Make sure your pets are wearing identification tags so that if they do become lost, they can be returned promptly. Animals found running at-large should be taken to the local animal shelter, where they will have the best chance of being reunited with their owners. "

Have a safe and happy 4th.
until next time --- smile
Sharon
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