Fall is here. Leaves are changing colors, the air is getting cooler and the last of the produce season is upon us. One fall produce item we can’t seem to get enough of is apples. In addition to being nutritious on their own, they are great for making apple cider.

Apple cider is simple to make, but there are a few precautions you need to take to make sure it is safe to drink and avoid foodborne illness.

• Never use apples from the ground. Manure from cattle, deer and even some birds can harbor dangerous bacteria like E. coli. Washing the apples may remove some bacteria but not all, so it is best to avoid using apples that may have come in contact with animal waste.

• Use only freshly harvested apples. As apples age they become less acidic, which can allow bacteria to grow. Try to harvest apples and make the cider within 24 hours.

• Always pasteurize your cider. The only way to reduce the potential for foodborne bacteria is to pasteurize the cider. This can be done by bringing the cider just to a boil before consuming.

• Refrigerate after boiling. Cider can be stored up to seven days in the refrigerator. Make sure to use sanitized storage containers.

Remember, you can’t smell, taste or see bacteria. Michigan State University Extension recommends the above tips to keep your family food safe this apple cider season.

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When I think of fall and the leaves start to turn, I think salmon fishing. September often marks the beginning of the fall pacific salmon migration in the Great Lakes.

Depending on where you are, there are three species available — king or chinook, coho, and in some places, pink. These fish have spent the majority of their lives out in the big lakes feeding, and are now returning to rivers and streams for reproduction.

Males and females migrate into the rivers and look for ideal gravelly areas to spawn. Once they spawn, their life cycle is complete and they die.

What does any of this have to do with food safety? Well, it turns out that almost as soon as these salmon enter the river systems, their bodies start breaking down. They stop feeding, and all of their energy is put into the reproduction process.

Sometimes you’ll see fish laying on redds, the term for where they lay their eggs, that have large portions of their body already “rotting” away, but their drive to reproduce is so strong that they will try until the very end.

If you are fishing and catch one of these “rotters,” and decide to take it home to eat, it can cause some food safety concerns.

Michigan State University Extension recommends the following tips to keep your catch safe this fall:

• Avoid keeping fish that have visible decay, as their flesh may contain a higher number of bacteria than a fresher fish.
• Keep the fish alive as long as possible. These salmon, especially if they are showing any visible signs of decay, are covered in bacteria, including their mouths. Keep your hands away from their teeth. Two hours or less between catching and cleaning is preferable to reduce additional bacteria growth.
• Clean and cool the fish as soon as possible. The flesh will continue deteriorating as soon as the fish leaves the water. Have a cooler of ice ready to store your cleaned fish.
• Make sure to use clean, potable water for rinsing cleaned fish. Keep cleaned fish on ice until further processing.
• Use clean utensils when preparing fish.
• If you’re not eating the fish right away, properly can, freeze or smoke your catch to preserve it. For more information on these processes, visit the MSU Extension website.
• When cooking fish, always make sure to cook to an internal temperature of 145 degrees F.
• Never eat raw or undercooked fish. Freezing or cooking fish kills most harmful pathogens, but there are bacteria and parasites that can survive the freezing process.
• Always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and hot water before and after handling fish.

Fall is a great time to get out there and stock up on healthy proteins found in our local fish populations, but be sure that the fish you catch is handled safely along the way to prevent foodborne illness.

About the author: Michelle Jarvie is an educator with the Michigan State University Extension Service. Her areas of focus include food safety and nutrition.

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If you are one of those generous gardeners, Michigan State University Extension has eight tips to help you provide high-quality produce to food banks and pantries.

1. It is important to check with the food bank or pantry before delivering any produce. Find out if they accept produce at their site and if they do, ask if they need the type of produce you have to donate.
2. Always handle the fresh fruits and vegetables safely to minimize the risk of foodborne illness. For example, don’t harvest when you are sick and always wash your hands before harvesting
3. Offer only high quality, freshly picked fruits and vegetables.
4. Do not donate fruits and vegetables that are overripe, have mold, bruising, spoilage or insect damage.
5. If you use pesticides in your garden, always read and follow the label instructions.
6. Harvest produce early in the morning.
7. Wipe as much mud and dirt as possible off of the produce but do not rinse the produce. Rinsing the produce takes off some of the natural protective coating and will cause the produce to spoil sooner than if it wasn’t rinsed.
8. Do not mix different kinds of produce. For example, don’t put cucumbers in the same clean, food grade container as green beans.

Those who donate food to food banks and pantries are protected by the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act that was signed into law in 1996 by President Bill Clinton. This federal act protects those who donate produce from their garden, and those who donate grocery products, to nonprofit organizations for distribution to people in need, from criminal and civil liability.

Under terms of this Act, donors are protected, if the products were donated in good faith but later caused harm to the recipient. It also standardizes donor liability exposure and sets a floor of gross negligence or intentional misconduct for people who donate grocery products.

If you will be donating produce this year from your garden, thank you for providing safe, nutritious food to those who might otherwise go without.

This article by Jeannie Nichols was originally published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit http://www.msue.msu.edu. To contact an expert in your area, visit http://expert.msue.msu.edu, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).

Editor’s note: A shorter version of this article originally was published by Michigan State University Extension. To contact an expert in your area, visit http://expert.msue.msu.edu, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).

Make sure to purchase — or dig up — your bimetallic, stemmed, instant-read thermometer before you put the bird in the oven. Calibrating your thermometer is equally as important as actually using it to check the internal temperatures of the turkey and stuffing.

Using a calibrated food thermometer is the only reliable way to ensure the food is safe to eat.

You must cook all poultry to a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit as measured with that calibrated food thermometer.

Check the internal temperature in the innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast. For optimum safety, do not stuff poultry. If stuffing whole poultry, the center of the stuffing must also reach a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees F.

To properly use a food thermometer, the thermometer probe must be inserted the full length of the sensing area (usually 2 to 3 inches up the thermometer stem).  Always refer to manufacturer’s instructions if you have questions regarding your specific thermometer.

Calibration counts
Before using the thermometer on Thanksgiving morning, calibrating the thermometer is an important step to take. Many food thermometers have a calibration nut under the dial that can be adjusted. Check the package for instructions. To calibrate using the ice point method is very simple with these steps:

• Fill a large glass with crushed ice;
• Add water to the top of the ice and stir well;
• Place the stem of the food thermometer at least 2 inches into the ice water without touching the sides or the bottom of the glass;
• Wait a minimum of 30 seconds before adjusting; and
• Without removing the stem from the ice, hold the adjusting nut under the head of the thermometer and turn the head so the arrow reads 32 degrees F.

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