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Food Safety Education Month

As it’s officially Food Safety Education Month we thought we’d do our bit to prevent foodborne illness with our Top 5 Tips for Safe Food Handling! For Food Safety Education Month we will look at the importance of accurate temperature measurement and why the control of temperature is critical to the quality and safety of your food products. Temperature Control Many foods that are handled in homes, food service and food processing businesses contain harmful bacteria. The growth of such bacteria can easily be controlled by ensuring that food is stored at and cooked to the right temperature. Harmful bacteria can be reduced or destroyed by cooking or reheating to the correct temperature. For Food Safety Education Month we recommend that you create a new or revisit your existing Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) or food safety plan. … Read more

UK Sausage Week

We’re helping to celebrate UK Sausage Week by giving you the low-down on how to get the best out of your wurst – once you’ve decided on which one’s your favourite of course! COMMON MISTAKES I’m sure we’ve all had a dodgy BBQ sausage in our time… charred on the outside but soft and pink and going to make you ill on the inside. Even frying can result in the centre not being cooked through properly. So here’s our quick guide to getting the BEST out of your WURST. 1. Avoid a high heat The higher you have the heat, the less the fat will render, the faster the sausage skin will burn and the less likely you will have a perfectly cooked centre. This is why the BBQ sausages all too often fail; if the coals are too hot, then … Read more

Celebrate Safely

At Comark we want you to celebrate safely this 4th of July! If your plans to celebrate Independence Day with family and friends, either today, or over the weekend, involve barbecues and eating outdoors, then here’s a few tips to help you keep safe! When it comes to Independence Day food, there’s nothing better than a picnic or barbecue with family and friends. You’ll want to make sure there is plenty of food to go round – but you should also make sure you celebrate safely.. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has just posted it’s July 4th food safety advice and we’re doing our bit for food safety by urging you go about your celebrations with food safety in mind. Preparing Safely First and foremost, keep your food preparation areas, utensils and equipment clean and wash your hands between different … Read more

Comark at NRA 2019 – Centennial Show

From May 19-21 you will find Comark at NRA 2019, celebrating not only a new range of Bluetooth thermometers and feature-rich food thermometers but also celebrating the National Restaurant Association’s centennial year! If you visit Comark at NRA 2019, at booth 3746, you will be able to see the latest range of hand-held Bluetooth food thermometers, which transmit their temperature data to our Comark Kitchen Checks App, installed on your mobile device or tablet. If you are looking for new ways in which to automate data collection and to avoid human error in the process, then you definitely need to swing by! For most professionals attending NRA 2019, a food thermometer needs to be used in a specific and controlled manner and the temperature data collected at source. This makes a secure data transmission protocol such as Bluetooth … Read more

Yizhou Chen - General Manager - Comark Instruments

Yizhou Chen Appointed General Manager

Comark Instruments, a leading international manufacturer of high quality, precision thermometers, data loggers and wireless temperature monitoring solutions, announced today the appointment of Yizhou Chen to the position of General Manager. “Food safety is one of the top concerns of mine and many others,” says Yizhou. “Comark is a remarkable company in the food industry, with a track record of providing trusted and innovative temperature solutions to keep customers and consumers around the world Safe. I am very proud to join the team to continue serving our customers in the best way possible.” Yizhou most recently came from Fluke IG as the BU Manager DMM/ EPROD based in Everett, WA, where she achieved double digit revenue growth for consecutive two years and built a strong innovation funnel for future roadmap. Before this Yizhou had, at Fluke, been the BU Manager … Read more

Latest Salmonella Outbreaks

Latest Salmonella Outbreaks What is a Salmonella Outbreak? The latest Salmonella outbreaks are declared when two or more people get the same Salmonella based illness, from the same contaminated food or drink source. These events are also known as food-borne disease outbreaks. Salmonella itself is a type of rod-shaped bacteria (or bacillus) and is one of the most well known causes of food-borne illness, more often referred to as ‘food poisoning’. Usually, an infection will just result in illness, but the latest salmonella outbreaks have required hospitalization for a large number of people and have even lead to death. The latest Salmonella outbreaks have all involved live bacteria being found in the intestines of humans (Salmonellosis). The bacteria usually invades the gastrointestinal tract, where they attach themselves to the cells lining the intestines and start to produce toxins. The Centers … Read more

Your guide to refrigerators and humidity drawers

When it comes to properly a fridge to stock fresh produce, most people know that low temperatures help to keep food fresh for longer, but this guide to refrigerators and humidity drawers explains how humidity also plays a vital role in extending the life of some of your fresh fruits and vegetables. In your you may find that you have a humidity drawer that regulates the amount of humidity your produce receives. Humidity drawers keep your fruit and vegetables in particular, fresher for longer, preventing wastage, saving you money and the effort required to replace any affected produce, but it is important to know how best to use them, in order to product quality for as long as possible. What are humidity drawers? Designated fruit and vegetable drawers are designed to maintain a higher humidity than the rest of … Read more

Health Risks From Eating Raw Cookie Dough

A tempting ‘cook’s perk’ for some, but raw cookie dough hasn’t had the kind of treatment that’s designed to kill germs, so may cause illnesses in people who eat it. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued a warning about the dangers of eating raw cookie dough, urging us to “Say no to raw dough!“. “When you prepare homemade cookie dough, cake mixes, or even bread, you may be tempted to taste a bite before it is fully cooked,” the CDC said. “But steer clear of this temptation — eating or tasting unbaked products that are intended to be cooked, such as dough or batter, can make you sick.” It would be easy to just associate the health risks with the inclusion of the raw egg that’s in the raw cookie dough, as this is a well … Read more

The 4Cs of Christmas Cooking

When it comes to Christmas cooking, each person has their own family traditions. Cooking a bird is a tradition in many countries with turkey and goose being favorites on the menu. Often preparations for Christmas Day catering start well in advance. In Britain, the traditional day to make a Christmas Pudding is Stir-Up Sunday, the last Sunday before the Advent Season. It’s a good opportunity to teach children how to weigh out ingredients and in many households, each person gets to stir the mix and make a wish. It would be easy to think of the 4Cs of Christmas cooking as: Christmas Cake Christmas Pudding Crackers Chilled Champagne Christmas is one of the peak times of the year for catering establishments and in homes as the Party Season gets into fully swing. It’s a time of parties and celebrations with … Read more

Commercial Dishwasher Temperatures

High temperature commercial dishwashers use hot water that has reached a high enough temperature to remove food remnants and bacteria. The correct commercial dishwasher temperatures mean that table and cookware is by hot water. Kitchen staff spend much of their time documenting food storage and cooking temperatures as part of their HACCP plan. Measuring water temperatures of your dishwasher cycles is just as important to prove to that the correct safe-guards are in place. In a 2011 germ study conducted by the US based National Sanitation Federation (NSF), it was found that the place in most homes with the highest number of germs wasn’t the bathroom, but the kitchen! Washing hands, proper cleaning, of kitchen work surfaces and following food handling guidelines, are important ways to protect against food-borne illness. A vital measure is to ensure that dishes and cookware, … Read more

Cooking a Thanksgiving Turkey

The holidays are fast approaching. It is a time when family and friends gather looking forward to sharing traditional holiday fare of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and pie. Family traditions often dictate how a turkey is cooked. Roasting the turkey is a top favorite although the details may differ from family to family. Maybe it is soaked in brine overnight, it might be a spice mix rubbed in the skin or the frequency of basting with butter during the roasting time. However, it is prepared, there is no doubting that the Thanksgiving turkey is the star of the festive table. If you buy a frozen turkey, the USDA website has some easy to follow guidelines for the safe thawing of your Thanksgiving turkey. It’s important to check that the turkey does not reach the food danger zone of … Read more

3 Food Safety Tips for your Halloween Party

Halloween is observed in a number of countries on the 31 October. Otherwise known as All Saints’ Eve it marks part of the three-day observance of Hallowtide which runs from 31 October to 2 November annually. Modern Halloween celebrations include dressing up for costume parties, decorating with pumpkins carved into jack-o-lanterns, spooky decorations and games such as apple bobbing. It’s a good excuse for friends, family and community groups to hold a party. Children visit homes in their playing ‘trick or treat’. If you are catering for a crowd, follow these food safety tips for your Halloween Party. Refrigerate If serving foods like salads or dips at your party, bear in mind that they are particularly at risk of spreading food-borne illness. Don’t leave foods like this standing at room temperature for too long before being served. It’s best to … Read more