Q Have the rules for cooking pork changed in recent years? I was told, and cookbooks said, that pork should always be cooked to well done. In the last couple years I've noticed that recipes give a much shorter cooking time, and recently I saw a recipe that actually said to serve pork roast a bit pink in the center. Is trichinosis a thing of the past?
A "This isn't your grandma's pork anymore," said Pamela Johnson, communications director for the National Pork Board in Clive, Iowa. Trichinosis is virtually nonexistent in pork and, because of modern pork production, the meat is much leaner. You can safely serve pork cooked to a medium doneness, to a temperature of 160 degrees, she said.
Bleach and health Q I use bleach whenever I do a load of towels, washcloths and underwear. We throw wet washcloths and towels down the laundry chute where they may sit for up to a week, so I use bleach to kill any mildew, etc. What are the potential health risks of doing this?
A Industrial or pool chemical chlorine is more dangerous than chlorine bleach. However, chlorine bleach is caustic. It can irritate and burn skin and eyes. Even the fumes are irritating. (See the warning on the bleach container.)
Laundry bleach can volatize its chlorine (release it into the air) in the immediate vicinity of your laundry room. Some people are more sensitive than others to chlorine, and some become more sensitized with repeated exposures. Good ventilation can remove this quickly, however.
The real danger of chlorine exposure is in mixing it with ammonia, which produces a deadly gas. Don't do that!
If possible, drape the towels so they can dry between washings and prevent mildew growth, rather than relying on bleach treatments so often. It's a better idea to prevent mold and mildew whenever you can.
Molds and mildew produce spores that are released into the air. These spores are in air naturally (that's how mildew grows on wet towels in the first place), but allowing mildew to grow only produces more spores than necessary in your home.
