Show 17 Opinion 19 Crossword 20 The Herald Journal Logan Utah Wednesday November 8 2000 Play it safe when you thaw meat n- - Is it safe to defrost meat oninFcounter? Answer by: Charlotte Brennand Utah State University Extension Food yX Safety Specialist The general rule in handling perishable food products is to not keep food between temperatures of 40 to 140 degrees F for more than two hours Neva- - thaw food at room temperature It is easy to forget the food and the outside of the product may become too warm Thaw food products in the refrigerator under running cool water or use a microwave Thawing in the refrigerator is considered the best method but it requires starting the thawing process a day or two before the product is to be used Meat poultry and fish should be placed in a pan to catch drips ' If food is thawed in the microwave it should be cooked ' immediately Microwaves thaw and heat the interior of the food If the product is returned to the refrigerator the interior may be warm and not ' cool rapidly enough Large meat products (for example a whole chick- en) may thaw more rapidly in water than in the microwave Products in waterproof wrapping or containers can be thawed by allowing cool (not hot) water to run over them Place the product in a bowl in the sink and let the tap run slowly filling and overflowing the bowl Do not use this method for longer than 2 hours Meat can be cooked starting with a frozen or partially frozen product It will take longer to cook than anon- frozen product Any spilled meat juices from thawing need to be cleaned up Simply wiping the counter or refrigerator shelf isn’t enough since this may 'merely spread bacteria Salmonella can live on a dry countertop for 14 to 17 days Wash counters cutting ' boards arid equipment with warm ' soapy water For extra security spray counters with' a chlorine solution or ' any kitchen disinfectant ‘ It is no longer recommended that poultry be washed prior to cooking First any contamination on the bird is on the inside or outride surface and these are the areas that will be heated most thoroughly killing pathogens such as salmonella Second washing: the bird can spread any contamination on die bird to other surfaces What can I use If my freezer stops and everything thaws? Generally refreezing should not pose a hazard if the food is not warmer than 40 degrees F If thawed ' food still has ice crystals it is safe to ' refreeze but time may be some loss ' of quality If it doesn’t have ice crys- tals put a thermometer in the freezer and check the temperature Food at ' 40 degrees F or less is still safe Meat poultry and vegetables: ' Refreeze if die temperature is 40 degrees FOr colder and the color and odor are good Discard packages that show signs of spoilage ‘ Fruits: Refreeze if they smell and ' taste good Thawed fruits can be used in cookingor making jellies jams or fruit leather Frozen concentrated juices can be refrozen if they are still cold and don’t show signs of leakage Cooked foods: Refreeze if ice crystals are present or temperature is 40 degrees F or less If the condition js poor or questionable throw it out Nuts breads plain cakes and ' V cookies: These can be refrozen regardless of temperature Cakes and breads may be dnerafter refreezing:: Creamed foods puddings and items that have a cream filling such as eclairs or Boston cream cake: i Don’t refreeze If the temperature is below 40 degrees F keep refrigerated and use them in the next day or two Ice cream: Toss it or use it as part ' ofthe liquid in making muffins The quality of foods that are refrozen is affected Tberefore label these foods and use them quickly Georgiana Banellis spent her Navy career helping sailors eat right Now she helps retiring military personnel adjust to civilian life ' By Pat Bohm Trestle features writer ' eorgiana Banellis served for 20 yean in the US Navy and when she retired she transformed her military life to civilian mode without aid or advice Now she helps career military people prepare themselves to enter civilian life A military thread wove through Banellis’ life even before she joined the Navy “Mother had a brother who was ' a jet pilot missing in action in the Second World War And my father served a small hitch and then continued in the reserve status He was a captain in the Army Air Corps” she said in her comfort- able Nibley home Even during high school Banellis was involved with the military “When I was at Logan High we had Sponsor Corps like junior ROTC” She applied to join the Navy in San Francisco just' before begin- -' ning college at the University of Utah There she earned a baccalaureate in food and nutrition In 1969 she was commissioned as a : : - - ' Direct column topicquestions to: Donna Falkenborg Utah State Uni- - ' versity Extension 4900 Old Main Hill Logan UT 84322-490- 0 document with its & John WNtinHerald Journal Georgiana Banellis conducts workshops for servicemen and womert about to retire presidential signature hangs on her wall In spite of controversy about joining the military during a time of growing protest against the ' Vietnam War she had no questions about joining up- “In the University of Utah I didn’t feel die reverberations fend the heartache of the war al though I had corresponded with people in the war in Vietnam Even going through college I wasn't in any of ' those antiwar groups I don’t know if it was there on campus in Salt Lake City”: She served as a clinical dietitian in Navy shore hospitals’on 13 different bases mostly in the United States but also in Japan and Italy She said that at the time she joined dime were only nine dietitians in the entire United States Navy s - She retired as a lieutenant cojm- -' mander after 20 consecutive years in the Navy ' - : After working efficiently and competently during her busy r career years she faced big purchased a house and turned her changes upon retiring Her transition she said was considerable energies to landscap“terrible” ing its large yard directing buildShe had never owned a house ing renovations and joining volunteer activities in the commuarranged her own insurance ' lived or nity away sought employment from a military base “Inever Not long afterwards her mother became ill Banellis devoted her thought about it” time and the experience gained Her military housing benefit which had not been subject to from her hospital work to care for taxes while she was on active '' See VETERAN on Page 26 duty became taxable — try to live “And on half salary!” She did not know if her savings would carry her through ' She said that although it was a r good opportunity to become reac- -' quainted with family she found no foothold for employment in the valley “I couldn’t find a job in my field that paid anywhere near what ' I had been earning My mother' was my support system and at least I had a place to stay” she recalled That was almost 11 years ago in Banellis is proudest of her oak leaf insignia designating her as a memDecember 1989 of the medical corps ber ' ' Within a year though she had half-salar- y Greenland is canary’ for global warming - ' Navy officer Today die framed By Mitzl Perdue Scripps Howard News Service Just how much' global warming- is the Earth undergoing? More than 70 per- ' cent (of Greenland's : ice is cap) thinning There are many reasons' to care : about this question but the reason rapidly that most interests Bill Krabil) a scientist at the Goddard Space Center -- BHI Krabill at Wallops Island Va is that global Goddard Space Center warming could mean the melting of water stored in the polar icecaps -' world Greenland's ice cover is only According to Krabill tins of the world’s population lives one seventh die size of the ice sheet within a couple of miles of a coast- - in Antarctica and it’s far more sensiline- Even a small rise in the sea tive tp climate change : level would mean a devastating The Antarctic ice sheet is so large impact on people in these areas that it has its- own climate system V Knowing the immense importance and interacts with the rest of the of the issue Krabill and his col- world’s climate system at arelative-l- y leagues have been trying to' assess slow rate Greenland on the other the likelihood of its actually happett- - hand protrudes into the temperate ing Onfc way of getting a handle on latitudes and responds much more die issue is by studying the ice sheet 'rapidly to climate change that covers Greenland Krabill and his colleagues are takWhy Greenland? ing advantage of Greenland’s sensiIt turns out that Greenland may be tivity to climate change so they can better suited for tracking climate assess what is happening to the globchange than any other region in the al climate Tb do this they’ve mkde - three-quar- - - : ’ Thursday Religion Ke Godfrey : annual trips to Greenland for the last 5 years While there they study changes in ‘the thickness of the Greenland Ice Sheet In the period they’ve detected some worrisome changes “In a nutshell’’ he summarizes ' “we’Ve determined that the high ele-vation portions of the Greenland Ice Sheet are remarkably stable But all around the edges more than 70 per-more cent is thinning than 3 feet per year over thousands of miles Of coastland” To visualize what’s happening think Of Greenland as a giant dense ice cube It’s two miles thick in die center and 400 miles wide by 1000 : miles long In some of the coastal areas this “ice cube” has been dun- ' ning by about 10 feet per year When you spread the increased water from this across the global oceans it’s 13 millimeters or less than a human fairly-rapidl- hair'- ' ' That’s not a lot and at that fate it would probably not affect us in our lifetime However as Krabill points out “It’s an indicator of things to ' come” The melting that Krabill arid his colleagues have witnessed so far is not the end of the story The ocean can rise because of melting ice which is happening but it can also ' rise because the glaciers are moving more rapidly into the sea In Greenland the glaciers are still moving in a glacial pace Unfortunately that pace may be speeding up A fee from the surface of a glacier melts it penetrates to the bed of the glarier Tliere it acts as a lubricant allowing the glacier to slide faster towards the sea ' Is all of this melting due to a increase in the atmosphere's greenhouse gases? As a scientist' Krabill isn’t ready to say He’s aware of arguments on both sides However ! does say “As a per-sonal opinion I think it would be a shame not to try do something to mitigate greenhouse gases” man--ma- html- ' 752-212- 1 v de On tlw Net: Krabill recommends the Web site about airborne topographic mapping: http7aoiwflnasagovaottm Features: Am ' : k |