Boy Scout Troop 325 Scoutmaster Minute

Cooking Safely

October 20, 2009
Andy Duprey, Scoutmaster

We want you to learn to cook something that requires more than boiling water, but we also want it done safely. At a summer camp, whose name we won't mention, trail to first class scouts cooked over an open fire. They made tin foil dinners with hamburger, potatoes and onions. A number of scouts became ill they next day, vomiting, etc., when, we think, their tin foil dinners were undercooked. It turns out they had been using their hands to take food for their dinners out of common bowls. They had washed their hands before starting to cook, but not after they finished each task, or after they rubbed their noses and faces. So let's talk about this

1. Failing to cook food adequately
2. Keeping food too cool (<140) or not cold enough (>45)
3. Cross contamination.
4. Poor personal hygiene.

1. Well, they washed their hands to begin with, but not after that
2. They used their hands to take food from common bowls, potentially moving bacteria from their hands to the food-creating cross contamination.
3. They then undercooked their dinners slightly, allowing the bacteria to grow very quickly.
4. They then ate their now bacteria laden dinners, and some became pretty sick, though none seriously.

1. Washed/sanitized their hands initially and after they touched their faces and between dinner prep jobs.
2. Used clean utensils, such as tongs, to take food from the common bowls
3. Cooked the hamburger to a minimum 160 degrees.

Eat well and be well.

Good night scouts.