One of the most famous historical “dirty jobs” was food tester. Because poison was such a popular way of killing monarchs, food testers were employed to nibble at the royal dishes and sip the royal beverages. If they lived, the ruler commenced to dine. If they died, well, somebody would fetch another dish and another tester.
It didn’t always work out — according to some historians, the food tester for Roman emperor Claudius turned out to be his murderer, slipping him some poisoned mushrooms from the emperor’s not-so-loving wife, Agrippina.
These days, food testers are pretty rare, if they exist at all. But that doesn’t mean that food isn’t potentially dangerous anymore. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that globally, 600 million people get food poisoning every year, with 420,000 dying.
It’s not just a problem in low-income nations, either. According to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 48 million people in the United States get sick from food every year — roughly 1 in every 7 people. More than 100,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die.
The way that food is handled, prepared, and stored can determine whether it adds or takes away from life and health.
Sometimes, food safety is compromised somewhere along the supply chain. Examples include crops irrigated with contaminated water, food transported at the wrong temperature, and cross-contamination in a processing facility.
Upon the discovery of possible contamination, the government typically issues a food recall. But regulatory agencies can’t protect you from contamination that occurs after you’ve purchased the food — like, things that can happen when you’re preparing it at home.
So how can you ensure that the food you’re preparing for yourself and your family is safe to eat?
In this article, we’ll look at some of the principles of food safety, how to keep food safe when processing and preserving it at home, and how else you can protect yourself from foodborne illness.
Amaranth is an ancient grain that has been an important food staple for centuries. But where did this powerful plant originate? Tracing the roots of amaranth provides insight into the agricultural practices and food cultures of civilizations throughout history. Join me as we embark on an exciting expedition through time to discover the origin story of the amaranth plant!
First Cultivation in Mesoamerica
The earliest evidence of amaranth cultivation dates back 6,000 to 8,000 years ago in Mesoamerica, the region spanning modern-day Mexico through Central America. Archaeologists have uncovered amaranth pollen and seeds at sites occupied by cultures like the Aztecs, Mayans, Olmecs, and Teotihuacanos.
Amaranth was likely domesticated from its wild ancestor Amaranthus hybridus, a common weed Pre-Columbian people selected seeds from plants with desirable traits and grew successive generations to transform the weedy species into a productive grain crop The native amaranth species A. cruentus and A. hypochondriacus were two of the most extensively grown types.
For ancient Mesoamerican civilizations, amaranth served as a versatile staple food The tiny seeds provided a nutrient-dense source of protein, vitamins, and minerals. The leaves also made a nutritious cooked green. Amaranth sustained these indigenous cultures for millennia
Sacred Grain of the Aztecs
Among the Aztecs who dominated central Mexico from the 14th to 16th centuries, amaranth took on profound religious significance. They called it “huautli” and believed it possessed supernatural powers. Aztec mythology told that gods used amaranth to create the blood and flesh of humanity.
Amaranth featured prominently in rituals honoring Aztec deities. People shaped amaranth dough into images of gods and used popped amaranth seeds to decorate altars. The grain was offered as a sacrifice and consumed as a sacrament. For the Aztecs, eating amaranth connected them to the divine.
Consuming amaranth was also restricted to nobility and priestly classes, Common people were forbidden to eat the sacred grain and could be sentenced to death for doing so, This exclusivity elevated amaranth’s status as a food of rulers and the religious elite
Spreading Across the Globe
The Spanish conquistadors who overthrew the Aztec empire in the early 1500s were intent on eradicating pagan idolatry. They systematically destroyed amaranth crops and banned its use in rituals. Amaranth cultivation declined catastrophically in its native region.
Yet the plant persevered. As colonial trade routes expanded, amaranth traveled across the oceans along with other New World crops like maize, beans, and chilies. It took hold as a food source in parts of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Different regional varieties emerged, like the types called “chaulai” in India and “terere” in Zimbabwe.
Today, amaranth is cultivated on six continents and continues spreading to new areas. The globalization of amaranth has allowed cultures worldwide to benefit from the nutrition, hardiness, and versatility of this ancient grain.
Rediscovery as a Superfood
For centuries after the Spanish suppression of indigenous foodways, amaranth was relegated to the status of a marginalized crop and backyard garden plant. But starting in the 1970s, there has been a massive resurgence of interest in amaranth’s potential as a health food and sustainable crop.
Scientific research revealed amaranth’s excellent nutritional qualities. It contains high-quality protein with lysine, an amino acid scarce in other grains. Amaranth seeds provide calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, and vitamin C — a rare vitamin for a grain. These nutrients give amaranth superfood status.
Amaranth also shows promise as a resilient, high-yield crop requiring little irrigation, fertilizer, or pesticides. Today it is cultivated on small farms and commercial operations striving for food security in the face of climate change. Amaranth is even being considered as a staple crop that could sustain human colonies on Mars!
The renewed enthusiasm for amaranth connects us to the wisdom of ancient agriculturists who cultivated this amazing plant for millennia. After generations of near obscurity, amaranth is back and poised to undo its undeserved reputation as a mere weed.
An Enduring Legacy
The passage of amaranth across thousands of years and continents speaks to the power of plants to sustain and connect civilizations through the ages. Uncovering its history reveals interwoven stories of cultural heritage, agriculture, trade, colonization, and belief systems.
Amaranth remains a vibrant testament to the cultures of indigenous Mesoamericans who first cultivated its hardy seeds. We still have much to learn from amaranth’s ability to endure hardship and nourish communities. Though the origins of this plant are ancient, it promises a vital future as a sustainable crop and superfood for the 21st century.
The Four Principles of Food Safety
This means washing your hands before, during, and after preparing food — and before eating. This is especially important if you handle raw meat (and one reason plant-based eaters may be at a lower risk of foodborne illness than omnivores).
At the risk of sounding obvious (and putting gross s in your head), you should wash your hands after using the bathroom, changing diapers, and handling pets. (That goes triple for changing your pet’s diaper in the bathroom, I suppose.)
And hand washing is itself a bit of a science. Experts tell us to use soap, sing “Happy Birthday” while scrubbing (if you don’t self-report, you don’t have to pay royalties), and make sure to lather and rinse the entirety of both hands, including the back of your hands, nails, and spaces between the fingers.
Also, wash your utensils, cutting boards, and countertops with hot, soapy water after preparing each food item. Wash fresh produce to remove contaminants, including any pesticide residues. The best method uses baking soda and water. Here’s an article on how best to wash fresh produce.
It would actually make more sense to use the word “separate,” but then our 4-C mnemonic would be lost.
One category for containment is any food containing allergens, which can cause severe allergic reactions in susceptible people. To prevent cross-contamination of allergens, keep foods containing them separate from the rest of your food.
That means using separate kitchen tools, pots, pans, blenders, and so on. In cases of severe or life-threatening allergies, it may be wise to remove the allergen from your home altogether.
Another category for containment is problematic or potentially contaminated foods — especially raw meat, poultry, and/or seafood. You can reduce the risk of cross-contamination by using one cutting board or plate for any raw animal products, and a separate cutting board or plate for produce, bread, and other foods that won’t be cooked.
Of course, this risk is moot if you don’t bring meat or eggs into your home at all. Which reminds me: Scientists who study food safety recommend treating plant-based meats the same as regular meat, using a separate cutting board, or washing the cutting board thoroughly before using it for anything that will be eaten raw.
That speaks to a more fundamental principle of not mixing raw and cooked foods unless the raw ingredients are going to be cooked.
Any foods containing animal products should be cooked to a safe minimum internal temperature. To be safe, apply this rule to casseroles, leftovers, and plant-based meats like ground beef analogs. If you’re heating food in a microwave oven, check for cold spots before serving.
Some plant-based foods should always be cooked. These include mushrooms (due to the compounds agaritine and lentinan); potatoes (thanks to the presence of solanine); and beans — even fresh ones — such as broad beans and red and white kidney beans (because of a plant protein called hemagglutinin).
Bacteria can multiply rapidly at room temperature. The full “danger zone” for bacterial growth is actually between 40°F and 140°F (or 4°C and 60°C for you metric fans). To keep bacteria from spoiling perishable food, try to get it refrigerated within two hours after taking it off the heat or one hour if your ambient temperature is higher than 90°F (32°C). The important thing is to get it to cool rapidly so it reaches the safe refrigerator-storage temperature of 40°F or lower, where bacterial growth is inhibited.
I don’t recommend putting a large pot or container of hot food directly into the refrigerator or freezer, though, because it can actually warm everything else in there (and make your refrigerator or freezer work extra hard, driving up your electricity bill). One way to help food cool quicker is to divide it into smaller portions (ideally in shallow containers) or spread it out on a baking sheet prior to refrigerating (a good way to cool large batches of whole grains).
If you’re serving food at social gatherings, it might have to sit out for hours while guests help themselves. You can keep the internal temperature of hot dishes at 140 °F or higher by using chafing dishes, slow cookers, or warming trays. You can keep cold dishes below 40°F by nesting them in bowls of ice or using small serving trays and refilling them often.
A safe setting for your refrigerator is below 40°F and for your freezer, 0°F or below.
You can safely thaw frozen food in the refrigerator, in cold water, or in a microwave. However, food safety experts warn against thawing frozen food on a counter because bacteria multiply quickly in the parts of the food that reach room temperature (the outside can get quite warm even as the center remains solidly frozen).
If you have leftovers, it’s recommended to cover them, wrap them in airtight packaging, or seal them in storage containers. Most leftovers keep in the refrigerator for three to four days or frozen for three to four months (sometimes longer).
What are the Health Risks of Unsafe Food?
Foodborne illnesses (aka food poisoning) caused by pathogens like salmonella, E. coli, listeria, and norovirus can cause symptoms ranging from mild gastrointestinal discomfort to severe dehydration, organ failure, and even death.
Common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and fever. And these symptoms may occur within minutes of eating the offending food (which makes diagnosis much easier) or weeks later — in which case the illness may be incorrectly attributed to some other cause.
Food poisoning causes the most harm to vulnerable populations. These include infants, young children, pregnant women, the elderly, and individuals with weakened immune systems — all of whom are more susceptible to foodborne illnesses.
While most people think of food poisoning as a single, acute event, tainted food can also contribute to the development of chronic disease.
Long-term exposure to certain contaminants in food can cause or exacerbate conditions such as ankylosing spondylitis (a form of arthritis of the spine), joint diseases, kidney disease, cardiac and neurological disorders, and disorders of the digestive tract.
These contaminants can enter the food supply at any point, including during growing, processing, packaging, transportation, and storage. Pesticides found in food can also compromise long-term health, as can forever chemicals found in plastic packaging, storage containers, and canned goods.
Heavy metals such as cadmium and lead, which are often present in foods like chocolate, are also unsafe, even in small amounts.
Everything you need to know about Amaranth from growing and harvesting to eating and storing
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