自制的禮物吃起來有多安全?

自制的禮物吃起來有多安全?

After one too many tacky ties or too-small sweaters, a gift of homemade jam or salsa can be a welcome respite from the overconsumption that permeates this time of year. But whether it's chutney, relish, pickles, condiments or nut butters, there are some important health factors to consider — for both the gift-giver and giftee.

在打了太多俗氣的領(lǐng)帶或穿了太小的毛衣之后，自制的果醬或沙拉醬可以讓你在一年中的這個時候免受過度消費的困擾。但無論是酸辣醬、佐料、泡菜、調(diào)味品還是堅果醬，都有一些重要的健康因素需要考慮——對送禮的人來說都是如此。

Do you know where your homemade jelly jar came from? (Photo: Dennis Jarvis [CC by SA 2.0]/Flickr)

That doesn't mean you need to give up on your dreams on gifting your family and friends exquisite preserved lemons or spicy pickled okra, however. But a few tips from the experts will help to set both you and your gift beneficiary's mind at ease.

但這并不意味著你要放棄給家人和朋友精心腌制的檸檬或酸辣的秋葵作為禮物的夢想。但是專家們給出的一些建議會讓你和你的禮物受益人放心。

Beware foodborne botulism

當心食源性中毒

Before you dig into a homemade jar of pickles, consider its provenance. (Photo: ArtemSh/Shutterstock)

Botulism isn't just a tummy ache or queasiness. It's an illness caused by the germ Clostridium botulinum, which thrives in certain conditions, like, say, improperly canned carrots. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "You cannot see, smell, or taste botulinum toxin — but taking even a small taste of food containing this toxin can be deadly."

肉毒中毒不僅僅是肚子痛或惡心。這是一種由細菌梭菌肉毒桿菌引起的疾病，這種細菌在某些條件下會大量繁殖，比如，在不合適的罐裝胡蘿卜中。根據(jù)美國疾病控制與預(yù)防中心的說法，“你看不見、聞不到、嘗不到肉毒桿菌毒素——但是即使吃一點點含有這種毒素的食物也可能是致命的。”

No substitutions

沒有替換

Boiling water bath canning is one of the easiest way to make shelf-stable jams and pickles at home. (Photo: K-State Research and Extension [CC by 2.0]/Flickr

Now is not the time to put on your chef's hat and experiment in the kitchen. Perhaps you think you can plop some carrots in a jar of pickles, or add more peppercorns to your brine instead of vinegar. Alas, when you are dealing with this kind of chemistry, acid, bacteria, food density and pH levels are everything.

現(xiàn)在不是戴上廚師的帽子在廚房里做實驗的時候。也許你認為你可以在一罐泡菜中放入一些胡蘿卜，或者在鹽水中加入更多的花椒而不是醋。唉，當你在處理這種化學(xué)物質(zhì)時，酸、細菌、食物密度和pH值就是一切。

When it comes to testing out your friend's well-meaning homemade gift, you might have to ask some awkward questions. Elizabeth L. Andress of the NCHFP states, "It may not be easy to ask questions of your gift-giver. But important things to think about include: where the recipe and canning instructions came from, when it was canned, and how it was made."

當你要測試你朋友的善意自制禮物時，你可能不得不問一些尷尬的問題。NCHFP的Elizabeth L. Andress說:“向送禮物的人提問可能并不容易。但需要考慮的重要事情包括:配方和罐裝說明來自哪里，何時罐裝，以及如何制作。”

When checking out a canned good, chunks of food should be covered with a liquid, with no discoloration or drying out on top. Look closely for unnatural discoloration, mold, cloudiness or bubbling liquid before you open it. If it smells off-putting or spurts liquid upon opening, play it safe and toss it. Even with all those warning signs, there can still be jars of toxic botulism that present no red flags at all.

在挑選罐裝食品時，大塊的食物應(yīng)該用液體覆蓋，上面不要變色或變干。在你打開它之前，仔細檢查是否有不自然的變色、發(fā)霉、渾濁或冒泡的液體。如果它聞起來令人作嘔，或者一打開就噴出液體，那就安全的扔掉它。即使有了所有這些警告信號，仍然可能存在有毒的肉毒中毒，完全沒有危險信號。

It's not all doom and gloom, however. If you have your heart set on a homemade holiday, stick to high-acid, low-risk foods like peaches, cherries, plums, and cranberries, or cranberry sauce. Additionally, the high sugar content of fruit jams and jellies provide an extra measure of safety. If you're a novice, you might want to skip out on low-acid vegetables, creamed soups, pestos or vegetable butters — those are best left to the experts.

然而，也不全是厄運和沮喪。如果你想要一個自制的假期，堅持吃高酸、低風(fēng)險的食物，如桃子、櫻桃、李子、小紅莓或小紅莓醬。此外，高糖含量的果醬和果凍提供了額外的安全措施。如果你是一個菜鳥，你可能想要跳過低酸蔬菜，奶油湯，pestos或蔬菜黃油-這些最好留給專家。

Lastly, at the risk of permanently alienating friends and family, or coming off as a total Grinch, you'll want to make sure everyone involved has thoroughly washed their hands. It seems like a no-brainer, but 'tis the season for germs to spread. "It's not just the food, it's the environment,” Chapman warns. “Especially this time of year, we see norovirus being risky.”

最后，冒著永遠疏遠朋友和家人的風(fēng)險，或者成為一個徹頭徹尾的怪杰，你要確保每個人都徹底洗手了。這似乎是顯而易見的，但這是細菌傳播的季節(jié)。查普曼警告說:“不僅僅是食物，還有環(huán)境。“尤其是每年這個時候，我們看到諾洛病毒很危險。”