Hi blog buds!
So just when I thought the ‘schoolwork’ would be done for awhile, I signed up to get my “ServSafe” certification (a one-day class/test for food handlers) and just received a textbook in the mail that I have to read and study before the class at the end of the month.
NOOOOOOOO!
I’m breaking it down to a chapter or two a day so that I don’t procrastinate and have to read it all the day before class. Yesterday I read the chapters on “The Microworld” and “Contamination and Food Allergens“.
Let’s just say I don’t think I will ever want to eat again! Pretty much every type of food can harbor something nasty. (I’ll spare you the gory details.) I may never be able to stomach shrimp or scallops again. I will now NEVER try a raw oyster bar. Even baked potatoes, rice, beans, and melons have their own issues – eeek! And my beloved unpasteurized goat cheese!
Oddly enough, not a peep about pork and trichinosis. Go figure. (Maybe the National Pork Producers Council sponsors the printing of the book.) 
I’m already a little freaky about the chemicals in my food, genetic modifications, which ones are thyroid inhibiting, which ones are obesegenic or carcinogenic or estrogenic, and 18 other things it seems… do I really need something else to obsess over when it comes to my food?
One advantage is that if people who eat out all the time at restaurants took this course, they’d probably start knocking down the doors of personal chefs and eat at HOME so that they know who’s been touching their food! 
I know I went through a lot of this already at school but it was in the first week – so I quickly put all the “icky” out of my mind! Now I’m freaked out all over again! LOL!
Mostly I say this all in jest. I know that there are hazards in most foods if they aren’t handled properly. Fortunately, I think I have a pretty hearty immune system. Throughout 38 years of eating all sorts of stuff, I’ve only ever been truly ‘sick’ from food one time that I can recall (MSP and I both). And that was because we looked at the expiration date on our eggs, figured 2 days past wasn’t THAT big of a deal, and cooked them up for dinner anyway. The next day, we were both super sick. So we either did it to ourselves or we both contracted a 24-hour flu bug of some sort.
I know this may seem like an odd topic for FitFeat today, but have you ever had any sort of food poisoning? Do you know what the culprit was?
Hope you are having a TERRIFIC TUESDAY friends! See you next time!
– Shari B. =)
#1 by Cindy on March 17, 2011 - 11:31 am
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I LOVE YOUR PICTURE!
Good article actually, and I think food safety is important as well as WHAT you are eating. I for one was always a tad lazy in that dept but Hubs is the expiration date guru and now I watch them too.
I’ve never had food poisoning, but I used too keep water bottles in my car and sip on them when I drove to and from work. Of course in the morning the water was always COLD and it never occurred to me that it got warm during the day and could go bad when the chlorine wears off.
I did make my self once from doing that, after Hubs warned me. I took a gulp once and went…that didn’t taste right and right as rain…I was.
LIVE AND LEARN.
It’s probably good you just get your class done while you are still in school mode, but I HEAR YA!
I caught a touch of JJ’s cold and have been running a low grade fever for 3 days now so we are both on the mend. Hopefully I will be back to work tomorrow!
(WHAT AM I SAYING??) haha
xo
#2 by Joan on March 16, 2011 - 6:10 pm
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Love your blog changes…great picture!
Ohhh noooooo, we’re going out to dinner tonight AND tomorrow night!! Oh well I guess I’ve lived this long and survived I must have a good immune system too. I never order anything raw or undercooked…NEVER a Tuna steak…makes me queasy just to look at how raw it is.
I can’t remember being food sick but no doubt have been once or twice. It’s really icky to think about it, but I know stuff goes on in the kitchen of a restaurant that one just wouldn’t believe. We even quit eating at a restaurant when we caught sight of the chef! (shudder)
And all that gmo, chemical-y stuff…now that really IS freaky…there’s a reason they call it Frankin-foods.
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