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Tune in every Tuesday for a brand new episode of Don't Eat Poop! A Food Safety Podcast. Join Francine L. Shaw, the savvy CEO of Savvy Food Safety, and Matthew Regusci, compliance connoisseur and founder of Fostering Compliance, as they serve up the latest in food safety with a side of laughter.
Explore the ins and outs of food systems, responsible food practices, and food safety regulations. Stay informed about food safety awareness and the not-so-occasional food recall. Delve deep into the complexities of the food supply chain with our dynamic duo, who blend expert insights with a pinch of food safety humor. Whether you're knee-deep in the food safety industry or just passionate about what's on your plate, this podcast promises a fresh take on staying safe while eating well.
Expect candid conversations, personal anecdotes, and occasional guest appearances that spice up the discussion. Shaw and Regusci bring their combined decades of experience to the table, making each episode as informative as it is entertaining. From industry trends to must-know food safety news and regulations, they've got your back (and your lunch).
In essence, Don't Eat Poop! A Food Safety Podcast is not just about imparting information; it's about fostering a culture of food safety. By shedding light on the intricacies of the food supply chain and the latest food safety news, it aims to promote awareness and encourage responsible food practices among consumers and industry professionals alike.
When it comes to food safety, knowledge is power, and a good laugh is the best seasoning. At the heart of every episode is one golden rule: Don't Eat Poop!
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[00:00:00]
Matt Regusci: I have to make sure this house is prepped and ready to go for cleanliness. My wife has spray it. She uses disinfect all the counters and we're gonna go in and do a deep cleaning on this house with anybody cooks anything, because lord only knows what happened in this house beforehand and who cleaned it, right?
What they cleaned it with. So my wife is like, okay, great. So we're doing a deep cleaning of a house that's not ours. And I'm like, yes, yes we are.
intro: Everybody's gotta eat and nobody likes getting sick.
That's why heroes, toil in the shadows, keeping your food safe at all points from the supply chain to the point of sale. Join industry veterans, Francine l Shaw and Matt Reci for a deep dive into food safety. It all boils down to one golden rule. Don't eat poop.
Don't eat poop.
Matt Regusci: Hello, hello, Francine.
Francine L Shaw: Hello.
Matt Regusci: Merry Christmas [00:01:00] everybody. And uh, yeah, this is gonna come out the Tuesday before Christmas, so that's exciting. And we're gonna talk about how not to kill your loved ones during Christmas.
Unless you want to, and then you know, then you could do the exact opposite of what we're saying here and maybe you'll be successful. Remember that one episode? What episode number was that? Francine? Where we talked about that the Australian lady who...
Francine L Shaw: The mushrooms?
Matt Regusci: Yeah. Tried to off her family with mushrooms.
Francine L Shaw: I think she's in jail now.
Matt Regusci: What was it? It was beef mag Beef.
Francine L Shaw: Was it Beef Wellington?
Matt Regusci: Beef Wellington, yes. Yes. It wasn't her family, it was her ex-husband's family. And her ex-husband didn't show up.
Francine L Shaw: Did he not show up?
Matt Regusci: Yeah, he didn't show up. Yeah. No, he wasn't there. It was all of his family that she made this beef Wellington for.
And he was like, no, that woman's crazy. I'm not eating at her house. And then for some reason, the rest of the fam, his family did, and they all got sick with mushrooms.
Francine L Shaw: It was a good, yeah. Turned out to be a good decision for him because [00:02:00] the rest of them weren't so lucky.
Matt Regusci: No, they were not.
So you're having your family over for Christmas.
Francine L Shaw: Yes, we go to my son's house typically the last few years we've been going to my son's house on Christmas day, and then I cook the day after Christmas. I will cook when, um, they'll come to my house. Typically, the day after Christmas
Matt Regusci: I cook. Oh, so you do like Christmas over there with the kids and then you come over like presents opening all that stuff and then they come over the day after Christmas for a meal. Big meal. Yes. Yes. It's a very nice tradition.
Francine L Shaw: Yeah. We've done that the last two, three years.
Matt Regusci: This year I'm doing something very different. My wife and my older children convinced me to rent a house in Charleston, South Carolina, where my wife's family has moved to that. She's from, my wife was born in Kansas.
Her family has always been in Kansas, and we would go to Kansas every Thanksgiving or every other Thanksgiving and have like the whole big [00:03:00] Thanksgiving thing. They all moved over to Charleston, South Carolina to follow their kids. And so we're going over there for Christmas and so we're gonna be there from December 15th through December 25th.
We're flying home on Christmas day.
Francine L Shaw: Oh, wow.
Matt Regusci: Yes.
So we are doing a Thanksgiving and Christmas meal during that week, sometime at this house that we're renting.
Ah, Francine, I am gonna be flying with 14 people.
Francine L Shaw: You're gonna be like a third of the plane.
Matt Regusci: Oh, it's gonna be miserable. You know what? It, it won't be miserable.
I don't care about the airport, I don't care about the plane. The two things I'm worried about is TSA. 'cause you and I travel all the time, or we used to travel all the time. And so like I have TSA line down to a science. I know exactly what needs to be done. Just [00:04:00] do it. Right. Going through TSA with special needs kids is like my worst nightmare.
Uh, yeah. So my wife is like, you need to chill. We're gonna have everything ready. We're gonna have, and now you have like, all my kids prepped, my older kids prepped. You're all gonna have your own kid like you a little.
Francine L Shaw: I was gonna say just sign them with a child. Yeah. And tell them what they need to do.
Well, they have to go through the um, like not the regular check, but through the The scanner?
Matt Regusci: Yes. Some of them will, because I have a couple kiddos with wheelchairs, so yeah. We're gonna load those up with our guns and knives.
Francine L Shaw: So I wonder if you could make any prearrangements with that many people and the special needs, if you could call ahead the airline. Make any special arrangements because just the unique situation. I would call ahead and find out and [00:05:00] just say, look, this is our situation. We don't wanna hold up the line. I myself have, you know the, I'm sure that you have like the.
My God, I just don't fly as much as I used to. Priority boarding the priority pass and like, I have both of them, but I'm sure you do too, right?
Matt Regusci: Yes.
Francine L Shaw: But you're, you don't have that for 14 people.
Matt Regusci: But I don't have it for, for 14 other people.
Francine L Shaw: Right. I see you on the other side. Good luck.
Matt Regusci: Yeah, it's exactly right.
So, okay.
The reason why we have never flown with all my kids at the same time. We'll go on trips, but we drive. Okay. Is because they all know how anxious I am about flying with my whole family. I'm anxious for a couple reasons.
One is the TSA, which is theoretically going to be a very short anxiety trip. The second is, 'cause you and I have flown so much, how many times Francine have you and I picked a destination and you or [00:06:00] I have been like. Oh, the flight's delayed, or blah, blah, blah, blah, right? 'cause of maintenance issues.
Francine L Shaw: Delayed and it can be delayed sometimes for hours.
Matt Regusci: Yes. You know, hours or the flight gets canceled and now everybody, now you have to go to a different flight.
Francine L Shaw: Different gate.
Matt Regusci: That happens a bunch.
Francine L Shaw: And you're running 14 kids to the different gate, and it's not.
Matt Regusci: That's the issue.
Francine L Shaw: It's on from... you go from like the Northeast to the Southwest side of Atlanta or Chicago O'Hare. People who don't fly aren't getting this, but.
Matt Regusci: Yeah, exactly. Where you literally, for Atlanta, you're, you're like trekking a mile.
Francine L Shaw: Or more, I mean.
Matt Regusci: From one side to the other. Same with Denver airport. Luckily Denver Airport, everything's pretty well connected and most likely will be out of B Gate because we fly united. But B terminal.
Francine L Shaw: And it might involve a [00:07:00] shuttle if you're in Atlanta.
Matt Regusci: It's crazy. Okay, so that's my, my next thing is something is gonna go wrong with our flight and we are gonna have to split 15 people up into two or three flights because it's not like we book tickets on these flights. The ones, if it's, if this flight gets canceled. We're all, we all have tickets. Tickets on.
Now we have to figure out how we are gonna get 15 people on 2, 3, 4 different flights to South Carolina. And I, I'm like. Oh, my gosh.
Francine L Shaw: When they split them, they put all your special needs children together.
Matt Regusci: Yeah. So then we'll have to split up and.
Francine L Shaw: And it's like, no, this isn't gonna work.
Matt Regusci: Yeah. Yeah. Then we're have to split up kids into different Yeah.
Francine L Shaw: Yeah. It's, no, I get it.
Matt Regusci: So assuming everything goes right will be in South Carolina.
Francine L Shaw: Navigating an airport. You learn how to do that. That is, that is a learned. Yes. [00:08:00] You learn how to do that. That doesn't come. You don't walk in knowing how to navigate an airport and it, that sounds like silly, but it doesn't always come naturally.
And some of these airports aren't laid out intuitively. Some are, some aren't. We have our favorite airports. You know, you, you learn. There are some you like, some that you don't like for a variety of different reasons. So Denver's not a bad airport, you know what I mean? To navigate. That's not a bad air airport to navigate.
Um, but that isn't always the case. So it's like not everybody in your family may know how to navigate airports.
Matt Regusci: No. Particularly the autistic ones in a crowded airport with lots of lines. This is gonna be fun.
Francine L Shaw: A lot of people, the sound overload.
Matt Regusci: And I never check lag luggage ever.
Francine L Shaw: Yeah, I, I try to avoid that too.
I take a carry on. I mean, for, for that [00:09:00] long I would be checking a bag, I'm sure, but I try to avoid checking a bag because, you know, just all kinds of things.
Matt Regusci: So my wife bought 15 identical luggage bags to check with 15 different colors and 15 different name tags for each of the kids so that we could pull it off.
And I'm like. You are assuming all 15 of these bags are actually gonna come off of the same flight we're checking ourselves into. That is a very, very big assumption.
Francine L Shaw: And the odds of that are.
Matt Regusci: Very low.
Francine L Shaw: She better purchase some Apple ID or some ID tags to put inside of those so you know exactly where they are because they may not make it.
Matt Regusci: That is a great idea. That is a fantastic idea. I didn't think about that. I'm gonna tell my wife we need 15 apple ID tags.
Francine L Shaw: [00:10:00] Because they may not make it. And that way she knows where they're at. I, I am loaded with good ideas today. I'm just.
Matt Regusci: You are.
I, I, I said to. Because we drive to California, because that's where we're from.
Every year we drive to California, it's like an easy two day trip. I'm like, let's drive to South Carolina. Let's drive. She's like, no, Denver is not in the middle of the country. It's two thirds of the way to the east coast, one third of the way to the west coast. So we're tacking on another day or two driving.
I'm like, okay, let's tack another day or two of driving. She's like, no, we're flying. I'm like, okay. They're making fun of me 'cause they know how like anxious, I'm gonna get over this thing.
They're like, you literally could deal with outbreaks. Deal with like so much. The world just changes, you figure out like what to do, but like the flight thing is triggering you. I'm like 100%. The flight thing is triggering me.
Francine L Shaw: To get all those people in there through the line. Make sure you better arrive like four hours early because [00:11:00] anything can go wrong.
Matt Regusci: Yeah. Oh, 100%. I'm telling my wife, let's get a hotel there the day before. We don't have to have something mess up with our drive there or something.
Let's just, let's just do that.
My wife and my kids are laughing at me because I'm packing a meat thermometer. I'm like, why are you packing a meat thermometer? Well, because we're going to be cooking a Thanksgiving Christmas meal. We need a meat thermometer, so I'm packing my own meat thermometer.
Francine L Shaw: I joke with my family all the time that it's like, if, you know, if someone at my house has a, if there's a foodborne illness outbreak in my house and this hits the news, uh, my career's over.
Matt Regusci: 100%. Man, I think I've caught a cold again, Franince.
Francine L Shaw: You've had a rough year, Matt. You and I both actually.
Matt Regusci: I know it's all the kids. My daughter caught a cold. My son caught a cold.
Francine L Shaw: You know, you just reminded me.
I wanted to say, not everybody knows this, but I got really sick a few months ago, like really sick.
I [00:12:00] was in the hospital for almost a week for like five days. Penn State Hershey Medical Center was phenomenal. They just did a phenomenal job while I was there, and I just wanted to say that because it took a while to figure out what was wrong. They actually never did figure out what the cause.
Matt Regusci: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
They did a great job, but they never figured out what was wrong with me.
Francine L Shaw: But they ran every, they ran, they ran every test under the sun. When I say that I am being legitimate, I had every test under the sun. It's like, gee, you know, all your organs look great. You're in, you look great. But we just really can't figure out what's causing this.
But they really, the um. I was the emergency department, the doctors, the nurses. I think I had every medical department. I think I saw them all while I was there. They did a phenomenal job. They were just, I just wanted to give a shout out to them because they were, it was EG observation, I believe is where I spent most of my time.
They were amazing. I just wanted to say that. Okay. In the middle of our conversation there, [00:13:00] while we were talking about what a rough, rough year we've had.
Matt Regusci: Yes, it's been a crazy year.
But yeah, so I'm bringing a meat thermometer. 'cause first off, I don't want any of my family to get sick from the meal that we're gonna be cooking on Thanksgiving, Christmas.
It's gonna be like, I don't know, Thank Christmas. 'cause it's a combo meal. But also, can you imagine 50 people in a rented house, all of us have foodborne illness in a completely different city? That would be worse than my anxiety at the airport. That would be terrible.
Francine L Shaw: And then having to come home looking like Noroman.
Matt Regusci: Yeah. Us all piling into a flight not feeling good. And then the whole flight is like, uh, what are you doing on here? You're getting us sick. You're gonna get us sick through just being in a tube together with norovirus.
Francine L Shaw: That air recycling through the plane.
Matt Regusci: Yeah. I'm like, you okay honey? You got 15 identical bags. [00:14:00] All different colors, 15 name tags on there. And you're laughing at me for bringing a meat thermometer? I'm bringing a meat thermometer.
Francine L Shaw: Well, you get on there with your Purell wipes and your spray, and.
Matt Regusci: Oh, I'd love when the flight attendant hands you the Clorox Purell wipes, or whatever it is. I, I like grab a few of 'em because I keep them in there.
Francine L Shaw: I wanna throw out they're two different brands. Clorox and Purell.
Matt Regusci: I know I can't, I don't remember what the brand is that they give you. It's United on there or whatever.
It's just, I was covering all my bases, Francine.
Francine L Shaw: Thank God they're not sponsors. Yet.
Matt Regusci: I love those things. I use those, those like alcohol wipe thingies. I use it on like everything.
I asked my wife one time, I was changing a poopy diaper, which I do almost every day, and it was like super, super, super bad. And I asked my wife, I said, um, can we use Clorox wipes [00:15:00] on the bottom?
Like, can we, because this is really bad.
Francine L Shaw: No, no.
Matt Regusci: Yeah, that's what she said too. She looked at me if I was serious. She's like, are you, you're not serious, are you? Yeah. Can we use Clorox? Because I don't. This is bad. This is bad. This is gonna kill somebody. She's like, no, you cannot use Clorox wipes on a baby's bottom. That is not okay.
Francine L Shaw: Dear God. I hope the, uh, foster care system not listening to this, that Matt Regusci is trying to use Clorox wipes on the baby bottoms.
Matt Regusci: Yeah. Clorox wipes on the bottom, and then I'm like, oh, this. Bottle of chloroform and ether. Can I put that on a.
Let's have a good night's sleep tonight, hun.
Francine L Shaw: Everybody needs to understand. We are joking. Get like.
Matt Regusci: You know what?
I think I could bring [00:16:00] three ounces of a liquid onto a flight. Maybe three ounces of chloroform or ether would work. I'm like, kids, get to your seat. Alright, line up. Okay. Just breathe slowly, deeply.
Francine L Shaw: Matt Regusci, stop. Stop. Stop before social services shows up at your house. My God. Okay. Not funny.
Matt Regusci: I guess that's not allowed either.
Francine L Shaw: Nah, it's not. And you know, I, we both know you would not do that.
Matt Regusci: No, I would not do that. I would never do that. Although we, it's a, it's a fun thought.
Francine L Shaw: And you know, everybody on the plane.
Matt Regusci: Just open the bottle and let it dissipate on the plane, and the recycling system just puts everybody to sleep.
Francine L Shaw: There's nothing worse. I love children. First of all, I love children, but there's nothing worse than getting on a flight to Orlando. And I've gone to [00:17:00] Orlando.
Matt Regusci: Uh, okay.
So Francine, what's the craziest food safety thing you've seen at a holiday meal?
Francine L Shaw: In my entire life? So.
Matt Regusci: Yeah.
Or, or you can eat a couple of them.
Francine L Shaw: When my children were little and we were eating at my mom's, we've talked about this before. Dear, God. And my mom opened up the oven and pulled out the rack and the turkey did not stop.
When she pulled out the rack, it was like it took on a new life form and it came flying out of the oven, fell out of the pan, and went scooting across the kitchen floor. The whole turkey, just right across the kitchen floor.
Matt Regusci: That's nice.
Francine L Shaw: A whole turkey. Right. Just thank God nobody got burned. But yeah, right across the kitchen floor, just it kept flying right across the, it's like, uh. Straight from. Straight from the oven, clear to the other wall.
Like, my God.
Matt Regusci: That was probably the only time in the [00:18:00] turkey's life it actually flew.
Francine L Shaw: I probably, probably.
Matt Regusci: Probably. Because they're not designed to really fly.
Francine L Shaw: I think I wrote about that in my book. Yes.
Matt Regusci: Okay. And, and I can't remember what happened. Did you guys just like pick it up, dust it off, and stick it back in the oven?
Francine L Shaw: Okay. I had no part of this. I was like her and my.
Matt Regusci: Five second rule, five second rule.
Francine L Shaw: Her and my sister picked that thing up. My other sister wasn't there, I don't think at the time. Picked that thing up, threw it in the kitchen sink. Washed it off and put it back in the oven. Nice. And nobody knew. We did not eat, my family did not eat turkey. Now, only the outside, technically, I guess.
And they put it back in an oven that was 450 degrees, 400 degrees. So probably, yeah. I couldn't get past the, my mom had dog and cat. I could, all the people walking on that kitchen, I could not get past it. I, no. Could not get past it. [00:19:00] Yeah. Rinsed it off, threw it back in the oven. And probably made gravy out of the broth.
Matt Regusci: I probably would've eaten it. Oh, I would've eaten it. Plus with the, with the pet hair. Oh, look, it's added benefit.
The risk analysis of that says everything's fine.
I remember when I was a kid, the turkey wasn't cooked all the way and the meal was ready to go. Like they were just waiting on the turkey. I was, when I say a kid, like I was a teenager and I was at my, um. One of my grandma's house and they just pulled it outta the oven, was like, yeah, it's good enough.
It was still like. These pieces of it were like still raw. It was disgusting. I was like, yeah, no, I'm not eating this even as a kid. And I didn't even know about food safety really. When I was a teenager and I was like, no, I'm not. I'm not. You cut in and you could still see like blood. And I was like, no. And people are like, oh, this is the first time a turkey's moist.
You know? [00:20:00] Because it's not fully cooked. Yo, what? What's going on?
Francine L Shaw: So. My mom always stuffed the turkey, always stuffed the turkey, and to this day, if I'm completely honest, I prefer the turkey that my mind, again, won't let me because I know too much now. But I always preferred the stuffing that was inside the bird. I don't stuff. I don't stuff the turkey.
However, she would stuff this turkey and she always got a great big turkey too. She would stuff it the night before, before she went to bed, she'd get up at like 4 30, 5 o'clock to put it in the oven.
Matt Regusci: Oh yeah. So the salmonella can permeate really well into the stuffing.
Francine L Shaw: Yes. So she would stuff it and leave it to sit out overnight.
Matt Regusci: Like defrosting on the counter while the stuffing is.
Francine L Shaw: On top of the oven. Like we had this old, really huge stove like, and on one side of it, it was like that type of stove that you could put wood in on one side side.
Matt Regusci: Yeah. Yeah.
Francine L Shaw: And [00:21:00] then, yeah. Yeah. So she would leave it, sit like on stuff it, and leave it set out, covered up.
Like that makes it better on top of it. And then cook it the next day.
I got the flu a lot at Thanksgiving when I was a kid. For years, I would not eat cherry pie. When I say the flu, we all know the flu now isn't vomiting and diarrhea, but because I love cherry pie, and a lot of times we would've cherry pie at Thanksgiving.
For years I couldn't eat cherry pie because of it.
Matt Regusci: Because you thought it was the cherry pie, not the turkey that had been sitting on the.
Francine L Shaw: No, it's just something that I vomited up a lot in Thanksgiving, so it was like.
Matt Regusci: Yeah, because it was, it's the only thing that's like red when you're.
Francine L Shaw: It's the only thing that I like.
That's what I would remember was this cherry pie and it was like, I can remember, I don't think this was the year of the turkey coming out of the oven, but I can remember Ashley. My daughter. My mom lived on one side of the mountain. We lived on the other side of the mountain and it's about 40 miles [00:22:00] apart, 30 miles apart, coming home from Thanksgiving.
And you know, I don't know what she would've got because typically you don't get sick that quickly. But I can remember her getting sick on the way home from my mother's and us having to pull over 'cause she was vomiting on the way home after Thanksgiving dinner. I mean, food safety just wasn't a thing.
Matt Regusci: Yes.
Francine L Shaw: We're talking 40 years ago.
Matt Regusci: No,
Francine L Shaw: 38 years ago.
Matt Regusci: Well, a lot of households, food safety still isn't a thing. So there's that.
Francine L Shaw: Yeah, it was, could have been the stuffing, you know, from the night before. It could have been, you know, the fact that 15 people had their hands in whatever was made and you know, who knows if they washed 'em or not. I don't know.
Dude, my mom was a good cook. I just wanna throw that out there. My mother was a really good cook.
Matt Regusci: Yeah, I bet. I mean, I bet that stuffing was absolutely amazing sitting there permeating in all the juices overnight. And then, um, you don't taste salmonella.
Francine L Shaw: No, you don't.
Matt Regusci: So you taste all the other flavors, but not salmonella. You taste all the other flavors coming back [00:23:00] up again after you get salmonella.
Francine L Shaw: Cherry pie.
Matt Regusci: Oh, when I cook a turkey, which it's interesting because my family loves chicken, loves beef, loves pork, not a huge turkey fan. But I love turkey legs and turkey thighs. I love the dark meat, but some of my kids like the white meat, the turkey breast, and that type of stuff.
So I do make a turkey at least once a year, but now I spatchcock it. So spatchcocking is basically what you're doing is you're cutting the backbone out and then you're pressing the turkey down so it's flat. Okay. And then I smoke it for like forever until it meets the right temp. So 165 at the breast, and then at least 175 in the dark meat.
And then we do it that way. So everything gets cooked pretty similarly because it's not this big ball being smoked. It's a flat surface. That's why I'm bringing my meat thermometer, baby. [00:24:00] We're making sure everything is cooked.
Francine L Shaw: I, I use the meat thermometer.
Matt Regusci: Yeah, because I, I love my meat thermometer. Taught my kids how to calibrate it.
We use that baby.
Francine L Shaw: I use my thermometer all the time.
Matt Regusci: Love it. Yeah. And, and my kids are like, why are you bringing it? Why don't you just get one there? Because they're like, I don't know, 10 bucks or something like that. They're not that expensive. And I'm like, well, because it's on the holiday. And who knows how many people are buying a meat thermometer at the grocery store?
I, what am I gonna do? Have Amazon deliver a package to a house we're renting? No, I'm bringing my own meat thermometer that way I know for sure it's there.
Francine L Shaw: We're such nerds.
Matt Regusci: But I know my kids are like worried that TSA is gonna flag this thing, so I have to check it and hopefully, uh, maybe I should buy 15 meat thermometers to stick it in every single bag and whichever one makes.
Francine L Shaw: Don't take it in your carry-on.
Matt Regusci: Yeah, I was gonna stick it in my carry-on. And my kids are like, no, people are gonna think you're gonna stab them in the flight.
Francine L Shaw: I used to be [00:25:00] able to do that because you remember when I was doing, you know, corporate training, I would take them to teach people how to calibrate them and.
After 09/11, it was like, oh no, no more meat thermometers.
Matt Regusci: Can you imagine a more terrible way of dying than being stabbed to death with that little tiny probe. Like talk about, it's like, uh, death by a thousand cuts, but it's like death by a thousand stabs. And then what do you say at the end of it, like, well. You're well done.
Francine L Shaw: You know, I'm rolling through with 20 metallic thermometers. I'm like, look, clearly I'm not gonna stab somebody with these meat thermometers. I won't bring 'em next time.
Matt Regusci: Yeah, so we're checking it. Hopefully, maybe I'll buy a couple extra just to keep them, put 'em in different bags just in case TSA loses our bags, which is a, a huge possibility.
Francine L Shaw: With that.
Me, if one doesn't [00:26:00] get lost.
Matt Regusci: Oh my gosh. I will text you, Francine. I will text you at the airport. If all of our bags are there, I'm gonna text you and if all of our bags are not there, I will text you.
Francine L Shaw: Send me a picture if they're all there.
Matt Regusci: I will let you know. One's inevitable, one's a miracle. And the miracle is if all the bags actually show up. Okay.
So the other thing that happens a lot in in Thanksgiving or Christmas or holiday meals or meals in general. One, cooking things to the proper temp and two, letting things just sit there forever.
'cause that was the other thing, like in my holiday meals as a kid, it was like some uncle never showed up on time. And then the meal is just sitting there ready to go, and it just sits there for like an hour.
Francine L Shaw: Not even an hour. All day long. People let this food sit out on the table.
Matt Regusci: All day long.
Francine L Shaw: And like as family members come and go, you've got people coming in and just [00:27:00] grabbing this stuff off the table.
And it's like, first, you know, it was sat there at noon and then, you know, it's like two o'clock, three o'clock, four o'clock, and we've still got turkey and dressing that was in the turkey. And, you know, all these high risk items that are still sitting out on the table and it's like, is anybody gonna put that stuff away, or we could throw it away.
What are we gonna do? It should not still be sitting on the table. Somebody's gonna get sick and my blood pressure's going up. Because we're gonna kill somebody. Listen, do not touch that food that's on the table.
Matt Regusci: Yeah, for sure. And the salads are like the worst, right? Like you got like potato salads and all this different type of stuff, just still sitting there chilling.
Oh man, that's, that's not good.
Francine L Shaw: So people think that the mayonnaise is like the culprit and it's really like the potatoes and the pasta are more rich.
Matt Regusci: And the eggs.
Francine L Shaw: The eggs, the onions, everything that's in it, besides the meat. Besides the mayonnaise, unless you're making [00:28:00] homemade mayonnaise. And then that's a different story because it's all coated, which is insulating that stuff.
And now you know it's sitting out at a, at temperature, some of these houses are 80, 90 degrees. You know, it shouldn't be out any more than two hours tops. Absolute tops. And you know, there it is harboring all this bacteria. It's just having a pathogen party there at the house of its own while you're, while you're having a party.
And who knows who didn't wash their hands while they were preparing that stuff.
Matt Regusci: Yes.
My kids are all laughing because I'm like, all right, when we go there, we're gonna go shopping for the products that we're gonna get. My wife's family is gonna be joining us 'cause they are already in Charleston, South Carolina.
I'm like, we're making sure that we're getting dish soap, the right dish soap that I always use, making sure we have antibacterial soap. I have to make sure this house is prepped and ready to go for cleanliness. My wife has her like spray that she, she [00:29:00] uses disinfect all the counters and we're gonna go in and do a deep cleaning on this house before we, any, anybody cooks anything.
Because lord only knows what, what happened in this house beforehand and who cleaned it. Right. So.
Francine L Shaw: Or what they cleaned it with.
Matt Regusci: Yeah, what they cleaned it with. Yeah. So my wife is like, okay, great. So we're doing a deep cleaning of a house that's not ours. And I'm like, yes. Yes, we are. She's like, okay.
Francine L Shaw: Oh my God.
So, um, you don't, you, do you use wood cutting boards?
Matt Regusci: I do, I do use wood cutting boards, but I also have the plastic sheets that I use. So like, there's like plastic.
Francine L Shaw: Over top of the wood that you lay on top of the wood.
Matt Regusci: Yeah, I put on top of the wood. Yeah.
Francine L Shaw: So I, yeah, I have hardwood. I should specify that these are hardwood cutting boards that we use.
I have one, I don't cut meat on it. But I do have a hardwood cutting board. I also have a plastic one.
Matt Regusci: I do, that's what I, I use the hardwood one to cut all my chicken, like raw chicken. Raw chicken, and [00:30:00] then I put veggies on those right afterwards and cut it too, because that's, it's good practice right there.
Francine L Shaw: I need to buy some of those thin cutting boards.
Matt Regusci: Just kidding, by the way. I do not do that. Don't do that. Do not cut.
Francine L Shaw: Oh, I just ignore you anymore.
Matt Regusci: Raw chicken on the floor. I know. And then I realized you. You're usually the one that go, oh my gosh Matt.
Francine L Shaw: I just ignore you and go right by it.
Matt Regusci: You're joking, Matt. The audience needs to know you're joking and then I don't have to say that 'cause you usually do it.
So I'm joking. I do not put raw chicken on my cutting wood cutting board and then cut veggies on it. That would be a way get salmonella.
Francine L Shaw: I need some thin. I know exactly what you're talking about. I need to buy some of those. That would simplify my life. I used to have some, and I dunno what happened to them.
Matt Regusci: Yeah, it's nice.
I like those. And then I throw 'em in the dishwasher because they're dishwasher safe. At least the ones that I get, the dishwasher has sanitizing on it, so I sanitize all those cutting boards.
Francine L Shaw: So, let's talk about dishwashers. Mine also has sanitizing. I mean, who [00:31:00] would we be if they didn't we be if they didn't?
Mine also has a sanitizing sanitizing cycle. Let's talk about how hot my sanitizing cycle gets. It melts stuff. Iced tea pitcher is acrylic. It is no more because it melted it. Nothing comes out. There is nothing alive when stuff comes outta my dishwasher. I mean, every. You'll burn yourself if you don't let it cold down.
Matt Regusci: I love that.
Francine L Shaw: Before you take it outta my dishwasher. It is. Part of the problem is our water at the house is super hot because we heat our water. We have an outside wood stove, and that's how we eat our water.
Matt Regusci: Every single time you talk about where you live, it becomes more and more rural every day.
Francine L Shaw: We have a hot water heater that we can certainly. I mean, we aren't like. We have a hot water heater, but we choose to run like when it's stupid not to.
Matt Regusci: That makes sense. I mean, [00:32:00] Pennsylvania is basically like a big forest. So, yeah.
Francine L Shaw: It's stupid not to heat it like that when we have the availability to do that. So that's part of, like, I don't use the hot cycle on my washing machine because warm is very, very hot, and I'm afraid that if I use the hot cycle might not have any of the plastic hoses left. So, yeah.
Matt Regusci: Yeah. So that's something else I have to think about at this house is the dishwasher that I'm used to has a sanitization cycle. I'm not sure this house does. Yeah, so that's something to think about. Like it's like cooking at somebody else's house is very different, right? 'cause you have all your stuff.
Francine L Shaw: Their dishes are different.
Do you have enough dishes?
Matt Regusci: The dishes are different. I'm gonna run everything through the dishwasher before we use anything too.
Francine L Shaw: Do you have enough dishes?
Matt Regusci: This is a, this, that's a very good question. We'll find out. And then I'm gonna have a food safety checklist for this house that we're going to.
Francine L Shaw: You need to look at that.
Bill Marler just [00:33:00] posted a, basically a food safety checklist for the baby formula company. You might wanna look at that and create your own HACCP plan and gap analysis before you go.
Matt Regusci: I'm have my kids, I'm gonna be like the food safety supervisor. I'm gonna have my kids run through the checklist. I'm gonna make sure they do it.
All right, we're gonna log it.
Francine L Shaw: You need to just give that to your kids and say, okay, this is everything. We need to print that out. Give it to your kids and say, this is everything we need to go do before we go, before we hit on the plane.
Matt Regusci: I haven't made SOPs in a while. I don't do that anymore. Now I'm gonna create my own SOPs.
I'm gonna create my own log forms. I'm gonna have the kids follow the SOPs and the logs. This is good Francine, and I'm glad we had this talk.
Francine L Shaw: You do need, Tracy does need to get the Apple.
Matt Regusci: Yes, the apple tags for all the luggage. That was another good one. Agreed.
Francine L Shaw: So you can find your luggage if it gets lost, you know where it's at.
My daughter tried one for me one time.
Matt Regusci: Well, on that note, don't get your family sick on [00:34:00] Christmas or Thanksgiving. This'll be after Thanksgiving before Christmas. Don't get your family sick on Christmas unless you want to, unless you wanna poison mall. And then, yeah, don't worry about anything we said.
Francine L Shaw: I hope we provided something valuable during this episode.
I have. I, I really don't know if we did. I don't know.
Matt Regusci: I think, I think we did. I, I think we did. Maybe some humor. I don't know. Um, okay. On that note.
Francine L Shaw: All of these are useful, so humor's good.
Matt Regusci: There you go. Don't eat poop.