Wildfires affect every aspect of a person’s life when they are close to home. Washington State University Extension has released a new podcast series that answers a variety of questions about food safety in the aftereffects of a fire.
Photo from Adobe Stock by schankz.
“Food Safety in a Minute,” a podcast that WSU Extension Professor Susie Craig has been recording for eight years, now has a seven-part bonus series called “Wildfire Food Safety: Making Safe Choices After a Wildfire.” Available to listen on all podcast platforms, each episode in the series is a minute long.
“The recent fires around Washington and the Pacific Northwest have affected so many people,” Craig said. “Food safety is always a concern when returning home after an evacuation.”
An experienced food safety expert, Craig tackles issues like food left in refrigerators and freezers, canned food concerns, gardens with smoke damage, and much more in the series.
“In gardens, for example, smoke and light ash can mostly be removed and the produce made edible by rinsing everything with a mixture of water and vinegar,” Craig said. “But if a structure or car burned nearby, then you probably shouldn’t eat anything from that garden due to the possibility of toxins in the smoke.
“The old adage is always true: when in doubt, throw it out,” she added. “Nobody wants to waste food, but it’s much safer than being sick and the costs of having a foodborne illness.”
One episode from the series talks about where people can go to find more detailed, verified information.
“When you get resources from WSU and other land-grant universities, you will get research-based information,” she said. “It’s not just what is easiest to access on the internet.”
The “Wildfire Food Safety” series can be found on a special website, and Craig plans to update the series with new episodes in the future.
“Recovery after a wildfire involves countless decisions, including whether food, water, and garden produce are safe to use,” said Raj Khosla, Cashup Davis Family Endowed Dean of WSU’s College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences. “Through this podcast series, WSU Extension is providing practical, science-based information that helps people navigate those decisions with confidence.”