冲击波英语专八系列：阅读理解之食品安全（2）

If you, like me, distrust school cafeterias, you pack homemade lunches for your children, as I did until my sons fi nished high school. But in the rush to get youngsters up, dressed, fed and off to school on time, the safety of that packed lunch easily can be overlooked.

While there are no statistics on how often schoolchildren are sickened by the lunches they bring from home, it’s far better to be safe than sorry, said Nancy Donley, the president of STOP FOODBORNE ILLNESS, an advocacy organization. Ms. Donley, who lives in Chicago, knows the risks all too well. In 1993 she lost her only child, 6-year-old Alex, to one of the nastiest food contaminants, innocently consumed in store-bought ground meat. Rather than retreat into a fetal position, she channeled her grief and anger into helping others avoid a similar tragedy.

According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in six Americans will be felled by food poisoning this year, with 128,000 hospitalized and 3,000 people dying as a result. Thirty-one organisms are known causes of 9.4 million of these illnesses, but 38.4 million people will be sickened by unknown pathogens. Our extraordinarily complex food supply, with commodities coming in year round from all over the world, has seriously challenged government efforts to keep consumers safe.

“Over the years, we’ve made progress in some areas but gone backward in others,” Ms. Donley said in an interview. “With so many deaths and illnesses each year from contaminated foods, there’s still a long way to go.”

While organizations like hers press for stricter inspection standards from the government and tighter controls from the food industry, Ms. Donley believes that consumers also must protect themselves as best they can.

“It’s important for the public to understand there are risks in food, and it’s up to them to try to mitigate those risks,” she said. And since children are among the most vulnerable to severe consequences of food poisoning, it makes sense to start with the lunches they take to school.

A standard rule of food safety is to keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot until it is time to eat them. Temperatures between 40 degrees and 140 degrees, not uncommon in packed lunches that sit in warm classrooms for hours, are ideal conditions for bacterial growth. Insulated lunch boxes can help keep food safer. The best box (hard-sided or soft) has an insulated lining and a pocket in which to place a thin freezer pack to help keep the contents cold until they are consumed.

What to put in those boxes? Foods like peanut butter and sliced cheese can tolerate room temperatures without spoiling, especially if insulation is lacking. Also consider pantry-safe foods packed in easy-to-open containers, like tuna that can be eaten out of a fl ip-top can, with or without bread.

Boxed milk or juice sold unrefrigerated is also a safe bet. And you can freeze these (as well as a water bottle) ahead of time and use them as cold packs; as they defrost, they’ll keep the rest of the lunch chilled. A number of sandwiches—for example, those made with lunch meats, tuna or egg salad—can be made the night before and frozen as well; they’ll defrost by lunch time. If your child likes lettuce and tomato, pack them separately to be put on the sandwich before eating. If you include cut-up vegetables, be sure they are washed fi rst and packed in a clean container. Dried fruits and whole fruits like apples, bananas, oranges and grapes can round out the meal and can be kept safely at room temperature. But all fresh fruits, even those that will be peeled, must be washed before they are put in the lunch box.

Before preparing food, wash your hands with warm water and soap for 20 seconds. Counter-tops and cutting boards should be washed as well; they can be sanitized. For the sake of convenience, I use a spray-on bleach product to clean my countertops and sink, and I wash everything that comes into contact with raw animal products immediately after use.
Of course, any surface, utensil or hand that comes into contact with raw meat, poultry, fish or eggs must always be thoroughly cleaned before being used for other foods, including those same foods after they are cooked.

Ideally, children should wash up before lunch, but that may not happen when they have only 15 to 20 minutes to eat. Alternatively, put a pocket-size hand sanitizer or moistened antibacterial towelette in the lunch box and instruct them to use it before they eat.

From The New York Times, August 29, 2011

1. According to the author, the safety of homemade lunches ______.

A. is obviously ensured

B. can be easily ignored

C. is no better than food in school cafeterias

D. is known to all the people

2. Some parties are mentioned in the article in terms of taking responsibility of mitigating the

food poisoning EXCEPT ______.

A. the government   B. the food industry       C. the press        D. consumers

3. In order to ensure food safety you should ______.

A. keep packed lunches between 40 degrees and 140 degrees

B. keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot

C. put the food in lunch boxes with a soft lining and a pocket

D. keep the lunch boxes in warm classrooms

4. ______ can perfect the meal.

A. Peanut butter or sliced cheese         B. Boxed milk or juice

C. Tuna or egg salad     D. Dried fruits and whole fruits

5. If there is not enough time to have lunch, children can wash up by using ______.

A. a spray-on bleach product   B. warm water

C. soap     D. a pocket-size hand sanitizer