Each month our clients receive a nutrition education handout in addition to their meal. The goal of these handouts is to improve your nutrition knowledge and empower you to make the best dietary choices for yourself. It's important for everyone to have healthy eating habits and make sure they havet he correct dietary facts about essential nutrients. The information clients received this month is included below.
Click here for a handout in English
Why is This Population at Risk?
April 2021 Educational Handout
By Katlan Akers, UTSA Graduate Dietetic Intern
Adults at the age of 65 years or older are at an increased risk for complications of foodborne illness. Due to changes that occur within the body as we age, these changes make an elderly person at risk. A few changes that occur can be seen as the motility within the gastrointestinal tract, slows and allows bacteria to grow. The function of organs such as the liver and kidney does not function as efficiently and does not allow proper filtering of bad bacteria and toxins. Underlying health conditions such as HIV/AIDS, cancer, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, or kidney disease can also increase the risk of foodborne illness.
How to Avoid Foodborne Illness Through Food Choice:
HIGHER Risk:
- Raw or uncooked meat and poultry
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Any (or containing) raw or undercooked fish or shellfish. Including:
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Refrigerated smoked fish
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Partially cooked seafood (shrimp and crab)
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Unpasteurized (raw) milk
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Foods that contain raw or undercooked eggs, including:
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Homemade Caesar salad dressings
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Homemade raw cookie dough
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Homemade eggnog
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Unwashed fresh vegetables
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Unpasteurized (raw) milk: feta, brie, blue-veined, queso fresco, camembert
LOWER Risk:
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Meat and poultry cooked to a correct internal temperature:
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145 - Roast and steak
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160 - Ground meat
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165 - Poultry
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Seafood cooked to 145 degrees
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Previously cooked seafood heated up to 165 degrees
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Pasteurized milk
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When cooking at home, cook with pasteurized eggs if the recipe calls for raw or undercooked eggs.
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When eating outside of the home, ask if the dish is prepared with pasteurized eggs.
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Washed fresh vegetables, including salads
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Cook vegetables
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Hard cheese, processed cheeses, cream cheese, mozzarella, soft cheeses that are clearly labeled “made from pasteurized milk”
Safety Tips
Clean - Surfaces, Utensils, and hands
Seperate - Raw meats, poultry, seafood from ready-to-eat foods during meal prep and in grocery cart
Cook - Use a food thermometer when cooking and reheating foods
Chill - Refrigerate/Freeze any raw and prepared foods if not consuming immediately
Katlan Akers, UTSA Graduate Dietetic Intern
Reference/Referencia: FoodSafety.gov
Please call 210.735.5115 for more information.