Prepared Foods
Systemic Mastocytosis patients are very sensitive (for lack of a better term) to many foods. In particular, foods which are high in histamine are very dangerous for those of us with this illness. Foods high in nitrates and other preservatives are dangerous for us as well.
Typically, frozen foods aren't too bad for us if they were flash frozen without preservatives. For example, frozen vegetables are really just flash frozen cut vegetables... nothing wrong with that, right? Well, nothing is wrong as long as the frozen foods are handled properly.
Now, let's move on to frozen prepared foods such as frozen meals, frozen dishes, frozen ravioli, frozen chicken, etc... These prepared foods start off bad for us (Systemic Mastocytosis patients) because they are high in preservatives. These preservatives are known to cause sudden mast cell degranulation which, in turn, causes anaphylaxis.
As if that is not bad enough...
Now, if these frozen meals are handled properly we should not have a problem with histamine building up more than typical leftovers out of our fridge. Still, this is bad for us and can cause serious problems, but things could be worse. I understand that sometimes we just don't have the time and energy (particularly the energy) to prepare and cook a fresh meal so we sometimes resort to prepared meals. We must ensure two things though... first, that we minimize the frequency of these meals, and second, that we are absolutely certain the food was handled safely.
I admit that I eat leftovers far more often than I should. If the leftovers are not "old", and I have handled the meal safely, then I can get by with eating a small amount of leftovers. So, what does "handled safely" mean?
Food should NEVER reach room temperature after cooking. If so, histamine builds up in the food as it approaches room temperature... the longer the food sits out, the more histamine that builds up in the food (and bacteria, but that topic is for another time). Histamine is bad, bad, bad news for those of us with Systemic Mastocytosis. This is what adds to our problems with anaphylaxis.
When you are finished serving the food, it must go into the fridge immediately. It should never sit out 'festering'. This is a term my primary care doc uses... her mantra is, "if it festers or ferments, you cannot eat it".
So, now let's go back to the frozen meals... What happens when those frozen meals get to your local market?
How many times have you gone to the frozen food aisle and noticed pallets of frozen meals sitting there in the middle of the aisle? How long do you think those pallets have been sitting out in the open and not in a freezer? Have they been sitting out long enough to thaw and fester? If the meal looks frosty or freezer burned when you first open it, the meal probably was not handled safely.
Now... let's talk about prepared foods in the refrigerated sections of the supermarket... ie, the deli. Are the refrigerators, particularly the open cases, at the correct temperatures in your local grocery store? The longer the foods sit out in these improperly maintained open fridges, the longer they are 'festering' close to room temperature. These foods are bad news for everyone but especially for Systemic Mastocytosis patients... VERY bad news.
I can tell you with absolute certainty that the foods at both grocery stores in my community handle foods poorly, if not dangerously unsafely. The open refrigerator cases are warm at both markets. The foods are hardly cool at all. The cheeses on prepared pizzas are turning brown in their packaging because they are festering near or at room temperature. Even cooked chicken is sitting in these warm open coolers festering.... CHICKEN! This is bad news for everyone, even the healthiest of the population! The histamine and bacteria which builds up in chicken at room temperature can kill a healthy person! I see this problem every single day at our local markets.
These problems I have referred to thus far are not related to a chain of supermarkets or grocery stores but are related to the local workforce and their lack of effective training. It is a management problem in a problematic workforce. It is a food safety problem pertaining to the lack of effective training in a local workforce. My local workforce is terrible at handling prepared foods of all kinds... refrigerated and frozen. In some cases, my local workforce is just plain criminally negligent in their 'safe' handling of food.
I've thrown away more prepared foods than I have eaten. Countless meals have been opened only to find they are covered in frost... into the garbage they go. I can't begin to tell you how often I have found a pallet or grocery cart FULL of frozen foods sitting in the middle of the aisle... I touch the packages... sometimes there is condensation on the packages which is a sign of defrosting... other times the packages are so close to room temperature that I can't tell if it had ever been frozen nor how long it had been sitting out rotting. Of course, we all know that these foods are still going to be put into those freezers so they can be sold... so we can be poisoned... and using the term "poisoned" is no exaggeration when it comes to the safety and welfare of Systemic Mastocytosis patients.
Most healthy people would just get an upset stomach... maybe a little diarrhea... if they eat one of these improperly handled frozen foods I am referring to here. A Systemic Mastocytosis patient could die just by eating one of these improperly handled meals. Of course, nobody wants to get an upset stomach or diarrhea from their meal so this is not appealing to anyone. Getting an upset stomach and/or diarrhea is the best case scenario. For a Systemic Mastocytosis patient, ignorance and incompetence in food safety becomes a life or death situation.
I want to add one more area where frozen/prepared foods can be handled improperly/unsafely. How much trust do we have that all food was handled safely and properly between the manufacturer's plant and the freezer or cooler at our local market? Was the refrigerated truck at a safe temperature? When the pallet of frozen food was delivered to your local market, was it immediately wheeled into a large freezer or immediately put into the freezers in the aisle? Think about this... How many times did your frozen meal thaw... then get put back in a freezer... then thaw... then get put back into a freezer? And, are all these freezers operating at safe temperatures for all foods, especially chicken dishes?
So... to those of you struggling with Systemic Mastocytosis... do not eat frozen foods (well, frozen vegetables should be okay if there are no obvious signs of mishandling) nor any prepared foods! Also, I encourage everyone to closely look at foods you see sitting out in the aisles at your local market. Look closely as though you are an inspector... after all, you and your family are the ones eating this stuff! Are the foods still frozen? Are they warm? Also, look closely at those open coolers/cases which are supposed to be keeping prepared foods cold... Are those foods feeling like they are at 40 degrees or do they feel closer to room temperature? Do the foods look like they were handled safely and properly?
I'd be very interested in hearing about everyone's experiences with their own local markets pertaining to the safe handling of these prepared foods being sold in our neighborhoods. My strong advice, however, is aimed at Systemic Mastocytosis patients... avoid these foods at all cost regardless of safe handling practices at your local market.
Typically, frozen foods aren't too bad for us if they were flash frozen without preservatives. For example, frozen vegetables are really just flash frozen cut vegetables... nothing wrong with that, right? Well, nothing is wrong as long as the frozen foods are handled properly.
Now, let's move on to frozen prepared foods such as frozen meals, frozen dishes, frozen ravioli, frozen chicken, etc... These prepared foods start off bad for us (Systemic Mastocytosis patients) because they are high in preservatives. These preservatives are known to cause sudden mast cell degranulation which, in turn, causes anaphylaxis.
As if that is not bad enough...
Now, if these frozen meals are handled properly we should not have a problem with histamine building up more than typical leftovers out of our fridge. Still, this is bad for us and can cause serious problems, but things could be worse. I understand that sometimes we just don't have the time and energy (particularly the energy) to prepare and cook a fresh meal so we sometimes resort to prepared meals. We must ensure two things though... first, that we minimize the frequency of these meals, and second, that we are absolutely certain the food was handled safely.
I admit that I eat leftovers far more often than I should. If the leftovers are not "old", and I have handled the meal safely, then I can get by with eating a small amount of leftovers. So, what does "handled safely" mean?
Food should NEVER reach room temperature after cooking. If so, histamine builds up in the food as it approaches room temperature... the longer the food sits out, the more histamine that builds up in the food (and bacteria, but that topic is for another time). Histamine is bad, bad, bad news for those of us with Systemic Mastocytosis. This is what adds to our problems with anaphylaxis.
When you are finished serving the food, it must go into the fridge immediately. It should never sit out 'festering'. This is a term my primary care doc uses... her mantra is, "if it festers or ferments, you cannot eat it".
So, now let's go back to the frozen meals... What happens when those frozen meals get to your local market?
How many times have you gone to the frozen food aisle and noticed pallets of frozen meals sitting there in the middle of the aisle? How long do you think those pallets have been sitting out in the open and not in a freezer? Have they been sitting out long enough to thaw and fester? If the meal looks frosty or freezer burned when you first open it, the meal probably was not handled safely.
Now... let's talk about prepared foods in the refrigerated sections of the supermarket... ie, the deli. Are the refrigerators, particularly the open cases, at the correct temperatures in your local grocery store? The longer the foods sit out in these improperly maintained open fridges, the longer they are 'festering' close to room temperature. These foods are bad news for everyone but especially for Systemic Mastocytosis patients... VERY bad news.
I can tell you with absolute certainty that the foods at both grocery stores in my community handle foods poorly, if not dangerously unsafely. The open refrigerator cases are warm at both markets. The foods are hardly cool at all. The cheeses on prepared pizzas are turning brown in their packaging because they are festering near or at room temperature. Even cooked chicken is sitting in these warm open coolers festering.... CHICKEN! This is bad news for everyone, even the healthiest of the population! The histamine and bacteria which builds up in chicken at room temperature can kill a healthy person! I see this problem every single day at our local markets.
These problems I have referred to thus far are not related to a chain of supermarkets or grocery stores but are related to the local workforce and their lack of effective training. It is a management problem in a problematic workforce. It is a food safety problem pertaining to the lack of effective training in a local workforce. My local workforce is terrible at handling prepared foods of all kinds... refrigerated and frozen. In some cases, my local workforce is just plain criminally negligent in their 'safe' handling of food.
I've thrown away more prepared foods than I have eaten. Countless meals have been opened only to find they are covered in frost... into the garbage they go. I can't begin to tell you how often I have found a pallet or grocery cart FULL of frozen foods sitting in the middle of the aisle... I touch the packages... sometimes there is condensation on the packages which is a sign of defrosting... other times the packages are so close to room temperature that I can't tell if it had ever been frozen nor how long it had been sitting out rotting. Of course, we all know that these foods are still going to be put into those freezers so they can be sold... so we can be poisoned... and using the term "poisoned" is no exaggeration when it comes to the safety and welfare of Systemic Mastocytosis patients.
Most healthy people would just get an upset stomach... maybe a little diarrhea... if they eat one of these improperly handled frozen foods I am referring to here. A Systemic Mastocytosis patient could die just by eating one of these improperly handled meals. Of course, nobody wants to get an upset stomach or diarrhea from their meal so this is not appealing to anyone. Getting an upset stomach and/or diarrhea is the best case scenario. For a Systemic Mastocytosis patient, ignorance and incompetence in food safety becomes a life or death situation.
I want to add one more area where frozen/prepared foods can be handled improperly/unsafely. How much trust do we have that all food was handled safely and properly between the manufacturer's plant and the freezer or cooler at our local market? Was the refrigerated truck at a safe temperature? When the pallet of frozen food was delivered to your local market, was it immediately wheeled into a large freezer or immediately put into the freezers in the aisle? Think about this... How many times did your frozen meal thaw... then get put back in a freezer... then thaw... then get put back into a freezer? And, are all these freezers operating at safe temperatures for all foods, especially chicken dishes?
So... to those of you struggling with Systemic Mastocytosis... do not eat frozen foods (well, frozen vegetables should be okay if there are no obvious signs of mishandling) nor any prepared foods! Also, I encourage everyone to closely look at foods you see sitting out in the aisles at your local market. Look closely as though you are an inspector... after all, you and your family are the ones eating this stuff! Are the foods still frozen? Are they warm? Also, look closely at those open coolers/cases which are supposed to be keeping prepared foods cold... Are those foods feeling like they are at 40 degrees or do they feel closer to room temperature? Do the foods look like they were handled safely and properly?
I'd be very interested in hearing about everyone's experiences with their own local markets pertaining to the safe handling of these prepared foods being sold in our neighborhoods. My strong advice, however, is aimed at Systemic Mastocytosis patients... avoid these foods at all cost regardless of safe handling practices at your local market.
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