Convection Oven Determination of Loss of Mass on Drying of Quick Frozen French Fried Potatoes: Collaborative Study

A collaborative study was carried out on one of the methods submitted to the Joint Economic Commission for Europe (ECE)/Codex Alimentarius Commission Group of Experts on the Standardization of Quick Frozen Foods for the determination of moisture in quick frozen french (fried potatoes. The method was based on the determination of loss of mass of the sample on drying in a convection oven 16 h at 103±2°C. Two samples of uncooked quick frozen french fried potatoes and 2 samples of oven quick frozen french fried potatoes were analyzed by 14 and 13 laboratories, respectively. The method is simple and was found to be analytically satisfactory with repeatability and reproducibility values of 0.21 and 2.00 g/100 g french fried potatoes, and 0.29 and 3.00 g/100 g oven french fried potatoes, respectively. The method was adopted by the Group of Experts in preference to other proposed procedures for this determination. The method has been adopted official first action by AOAC.

Occupational health and the the provision of nursing care for older adults

Providing nursing care to the senior citizen is a rewarding and exciting area of nursing. Care is provided in a vast array of settings from home health and day care to extended residential care sites. These challenges require health care workers to be adaptive and innovative, attentive to detail, compassionate teachers, and promoters of safety for their patients and for themselves. An understanding of the transmission of microorganisms, knowledge of protective mechanisms, and a focus on safety will help ensure good health for the nurse and the elder client. Maintenance of occupational safety and health are combined efforts for the employee and the employer working together to ensure a safe environment for those who need services and those who provide them.

Nurses: at special risk

Nurses are at occupational risk for many infections, but it was not until human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) was recognized that a work-acquired infection was uniformly fatal. Other work-acquired infections, including tuberculosis, rubella, measles, varicella, and the viral hepatitides, may cause morbidity for the nurse and his/her family. Although the number of nurses who acquire occupational infections is small, each has a unique personal story, and all will have their productivity affected. A few will lose their lives to infections acquired on the job. Although all occupational infections cannot be prevented, understanding the chain of infection and how to break the links can go a long way in reducing risks and maintaining health for all health care workers.