Preparing meals at home is a great way to enjoy fresh, nutritious food, but safe food handling is essential to prevent food-borne illness. By following a few simple practices, home cooks can reduce the risk of contamination and keep their families healthy.
Dakin Solution-The Most Beneficial Use of Bleach
I use bleach in my house. I don’t mention this to my sister-in-law because she gets upset at the mere mention of the word “bleach.” She keeps a strictly herbal household.
When I was a public outreach contractor at a chemical weapons demilitarization site, my major task was to teach families in the area how to make Dakin solution, which consists of bleach and water. Why? Because Dakin solution neutralizes VX, which was stored nearby at an Army ammunition plant where my company was working to eliminate the chemical weapon stockpile in accordance with an international treaty. VX is, in its chemical structure, an organophosphate “pesticide,” so we can depend on bleach to neutralize organophosphates used as pesticides in agriculture.
Bleach also disinfects. With the recent outbreaks of Cyclospora, Salmonella, and Listeria, it is important to be mindful of ways to help prevent food-borne illness in your home. All these diseases come in through your door on produce.
Bleach solution has broad antimicrobial activity against bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites. It is even effective against antibiotic-resistant organisms such as MRSA. But the real miracle of Dakin solution is that it eats away damaged flesh while keeping live cells intact. This was especially useful to help heal wounds soldiers suffered during the first world war, when the miracle solution became famous for saving thousands of lives.
Dakin Formula Ratios
By the Great Depression, every household had bleach and knew the formula for Dakin solution. Alas, this knowledge is almost completely lost. I was in the cleaning section of a dollar store during COVID and overheard a couple debating about how to use bleach…straight out of the bottle? A 0.5% solution of off-the-shelf 5.25% bleach, which I’ve seen pre-mixed for customers on Amazon, is too strong. One-tenth of that–0.05 is acceptable or better a fraction of that 0.025 is the concentration limit most hospitals use for wound care, and is sufficient for decontaminating surfaces in your kitchen. The formula I’m giving you is a 1:209 ratio, roughly 0.025 percent.
4 cups water (32 ounces, equal to two pints or a quart)
1 scant teaspoon bleach (plain traditional bleach, not scented or splash-proof, Clorox recommended)
In medical use, a teaspoon of baking soda is added to buffer the solution to avoid skin irritation, a contraindication. I skip this, because Dakin doesn’t irritate my skin.
Dakin’s the Easy Way
It is awkward and a risk to measure a teaspoon out of a bleach bottle. An easy, everyday way to do this is to fill a large stainless steel mixing bowl, or your kitchen sink, with three quarts of water and add a capful of bleach, which is about one tablespoon (1 teaspoon X 3). That will give you a 0.025 solution. Note it is Clorox that has a 1 tablespoon cap, not the dollar store brands. I find it is preferable to buy Clorox bleach just for the convenience of using the blue cap to measure out Dakin solution.
That’s it. Easy. It makes no sense to buy Dakin solution on Amazon that is a concentration recommended for chemical weapon decontamination and blood-spill cleanup. Buy from Amazon if you are a hospital; otherwise, just memorize the Dakin formula and make it at home.
Why the Anti-Chlorine Sentiment?
I’ve done my best to convince everyone bleach is not trying to kill us, it’s actually helpful in saving us. I’m sure my herbal-all-the-way sister-in-law will have none of it. I don’t know why chlorine gets dissed. Perhaps the bad reputation came about because it is a promiscuous molecule that easily hooks up with all kinds of atoms, sometimes in unfortunate ways. In its polyamorous configurations, we get toxic substances like polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB). When chlorine settles down with sodium, however, it is a useful, hard-working team player.
Neutrophils of the human immune system produce small amounts of hypochlorous acid inside phagosomes, which are used to digest bacteria and viruses. Your body actually makes sodium hypochlorite. So how could it be so harmful for you?
When rinsing my dishes in Dakin solution I sometimes wonder if that exposure is too much, then I consider Katy Leideke, the Olympic swimmer who trained or competed the distance from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to Cape Horn, South Africa, in chlorinated water. It doesn’t seem to hurt her: She has 14 gold medals.
For more information on the history, uses, and formulations of Dakin solution, read this article from the National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507916/
Keep It Clean and Avoid Cross Contamination
One of the most important rules of food safety is to keep everything clean. Wash your hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling food, especially raw meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs. Clean countertops, cutting boards, knives, and utensils with hot, soapy water after each use. I like to keep a bowl of Dakin solution on the counter to disinfect and decontaminate while prepping – not just after the meal has been cooked.
Avoid cross-contamination by keeping raw foods separate from ready-to-eat foods. Use separate cutting boards and utensils for raw meat and fresh produce whenever possible. Store raw meat, poultry, and seafood in sealed containers or on the lowest shelf of the refrigerator to prevent juices from dripping onto other foods.
Cooking food to the proper internal temperature is another key step in food safety. Using a food thermometer is the most reliable way to ensure that meat, poultry, seafood, and other cooked dishes have reached a safe temperature. Proper cooking destroys harmful bacteria that can cause illness.
Refrigerate perishable foods promptly. Foods such as meat, dairy products, cooked leftovers, and prepared dishes should not be left at room temperature for more than two hours, or one hour if the temperature is above 90°F (32°C). Keep your refrigerator at or below 40°F (4°C) and your freezer at 0°F (-18°C).
When reheating leftovers, heat them thoroughly until they are steaming hot or reach an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C). Divide large portions into smaller containers before refrigerating to help them cool more quickly and evenly.
Pay attention to expiration dates and signs of spoilage, such as unpleasant odors, mold, or unusual textures. When in doubt about whether a food is safe to eat, it is best to throw it away.
Practicing good food safety habits every day helps reduce the risk of foodborne illness. Clean as you work, check expiration dates as you use ingredients, and properly store ingredients, and you will have a safe cooking environment in your home.
Beyond the Expiration Date
I emphasize shelf-stable foods on this blog. How long these items really last? The shelf life of pantry and packaged foods varies widely, with low-acid canned goods lasting 2 to 5 years, dried pasta and rice lasting many years (I have an unused bag of rice that is 6 years old and still good to use), and sensitive items like nuts are better off refrigerated, but they will useable several months if kept in a cool, dark place.
I always try to stay within the “best used by” date. However, Martha Stewart claims shelf-stable items can last much longer. Here is her guidance on going past the expiration date:
Canned and Bottled Goods -Low-acid items (meat, beans, vegetables): Peak quality lasts 2 to 5 years past the date.
High-acid items (tomatoes, citrus juices): Peak quality lasts 18 months past the date.
Unopened preserves, pickles, and relishes: Generally last up to 1 year.
Dry Pantry Staples – Dried pasta, rice, and sugar: Indefinite safety, maintaining best quality long past best-by dates.
Dried fruits: Last 6 months to a year at room temperature, or longer sealed in the refrigerator.
Nuts and seeds: High fat content causes rancidity at room temp; store in the fridge for 6 months or freezer for up to 1 to 2 years.
