Amy Simonne

0000-0003-1695-4389

Safe Dishwashing Without an Automatic Dishwasher for Home, Community Events, and Outdoor Activities

Morgan Denhard, Amy Simonne, and Ricki McWilliams

2021 Guidelines for Operation and Usage of County Kitchens in the State of Florida

Amarat Simonne, Tim Wilson, Geralyn Sachs, Chris Hilliard, Steven von Bodungen, and Liz Felter

This publication provides guidelines and advice for Florida Extension personnel to use when determining the appropriate usage for their kitchen facilities, based on a situation in one Florida county. The publication covers utilization, roles and responsibilities, and potential liability issues relevant to the use of county kitchens, providing some potential solutions to conflicts for all parties.

Clostridium difficile: An Important Opportunistic Pathogen in Healthcare-Associated Infections

Soohyoun Ahn and Amarat H. Simonne

Healthcare-associated infections are infections that patients can get while receiving medical treatment in a healthcare facility. One opportunistic pathogen, Clostridium difficile, has been getting more attention in recent years because of its association with antibiotic use and a high death rate among the elderly. This factsheet provides an overview of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) with a focus on healthcare-associated infections.

Food Safety: Ready-to-Eat Foods

Jennifer Hillan and Amarat Simonne

This document provides guidelines for ensuring the safety of ready-to-eat fresh foods, which can pose a high risk for foodborne illness. It emphasizes selecting well-packaged, clean, and properly stored foods at the grocery store. First published: May 2010. 

How to Start a Food Business: Introduction

Soohyoun Ahn, Alison O'Donoughue, Renée Goodrich-Schneider, and Amarat H. Simonne

This factsheet is one in a "Food Entrepreneurship in Florida" series that assists beginning and established food entrepreneurs by providing them information on topics highly relevant to starting and running a food business—regulations, safety, labeling, processing, and marketing. This series serves as a useful guide to help make a business plan and determine the feasibility of starting a food business.

Problemas particulares de seguridad alimentaria durante el embarazo

Claudia Peñuela y Amy Simonne

FCS8886Span, a 3-page fact sheet by Claudia Peñuela and Amy Simonne, is the Spanish language version of FCS8886/FY1136: Special Food Safety Issues during Pregnancy. It highlights special food safety issues for pregnant women: listeriosis, methylmercury, and toxoplasmosis. Includes references

Facts about Quinoa

Alexandra Dati, Gail Kauwell, and Amy Simonne

A UF/IFAS numbered Fact Sheet. in support of UF/IFAS Extension program: Nutrition and Food Systems

Dry Heat: Baking, Roasting, and Broiling

M. Arick, K. Zamojski, and A. Simonne

This publication is the first in a series of documents to complement A Healthy Table Virtual Cooking School. The purpose is to educate the general public on how to safely prepare healthy meals at home. Written by M. Arick, K. Zamojski, and A. Simonne, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, November 2021.

Food Safety at Tailgating

Soohyoun Ahn, Jessica A. Lepper, Amarat H. Simonne, and Keith R. Schneider

While tailgating can be a great fun for family and friends, you need to make plans and take on-site precautions to keep your food safe during these events. Since refrigerators and running water are not always available for the events, you should familiarize yourself with the safe food handling practices for these outdoor events and plan ahead so you will be prepared with enough coolers/ice and all the tools you need to keep and cook your food safely. This fact sheet provides information on safe food practices for tailgating and other outdoor sporting events.

Safe Handling of Food and Water in a Hurricane or Related Disaster

Keith R. Schneider, Amarat Simonne, and Renée M. Goodrich Schneider

A UF/IFAS numbered Fact Sheet.

Wild Game: Food Safety and Nutrition

Halie Corbitt, Shari Bresin, LuAnn Duncan, Katherine Allen, Brenda Marty-Jimenez, Amarat Simonne, Martha Maddox, Lori Wiggins, and Jill Breslawski

This publication discusses wild game and food safety, foodborne illnesses, shelf life, cooking temperature, and nutrition. Written by Halie Corbitt, Shari Bresin, LuAnn Duncan, Katherine Allen, Brenda Marty-Jimenez, Amarat Simonne, Martha Maddox, Lori Wiggins, and Jill Breslawski, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, January 2022.

Sulfites: Separating Fact from Fiction

Paul Grotheer, Maurice Marshall, and Amy Simonne

A UF/IFAS numbered Fact Sheet.

Ensuring Safe Oysters: Essential Handling, Preparing, and Cooking Practices

Razieh Sadat Mirmahdi, Samantha Dicker, Razieh Farzad, Andrew J. MacIntosh, Amy Simonne, andNaim Montazeri

This EDIS publication provides insights for both oyster consumers and the restaurants that serve them, offering recommendations on techniques to maximize the safety of oysters through proper cooking.

Harvest and Handling of Calabaza (Tropical Pumpkin)

Megan E. Kinsman, Amy Simonne, Carlene A. Chase, Geoffrey Meru, Steven Sargent, andAndrew J. MacIntosh

This publication highlights best harvest, handling, and storage practices to serve growers interested in producing calabaza based on a review of preexisting and pertinent literature. This guidance also draws upon published information on closely related winter squash varieties, like butternut squash, due to the limited available literature on calabaza. The intended audiences of this publication are growers interested in incorporating calabaza into their rotation of crops, Extension agents charged with guiding growers on the harvesting and handling of calabaza crops, and anyone who is interested in ethnic vegetable production.

Creating Healthier Salad Dressings at Home

L. Johnson, J. Breslawski, M. Arick, K. Zamojski, and A. Simonne

This publication provides an overview of salad dressings as well as tasty homemade salad dressing recipes. Written by L. Johnson, J. Breslawski, M. Arick, K. Zamojski, and A. Simonne, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, December 2021.

Eating Defensively: The Nutrition and Food Safety Benefits of Cooked Produce

Morgan Dehnard, Amy Simonne, Gail P. A. Kauwell, andGail P. Kauwell

Current nutrition trends, such as the “raw food diet,” may lead consumers to believe that raw leafy vegetables are more nutritious than cooked vegetables, despite research showing that cooked vegetables make important nutritional contributions. This publication describes the nutrient retention and quality of cooked vegetables, explains why cooking vegetables is appropriate for consumers with food safety concerns, and provides tips for preparing cooked vegetables.

Special Food Safety Issues during Pregnancy

Claudia Peñuela andAmy Simonne

A UF/IFAS numbered Fact Sheet.

Proper Personal Preparation for the Florida 4-H Food Challenge Competition

Geralyn Sachs, M. Arick, Amy Simonne, Geralyn Sachs, Amber Norris, Andrea M. Nikolai, Joshua K. Payne, Shane T. Michael, Rachel Pienta, Janine Heiney, John Ferguson, Nicole Crawson, andSamara Purvis

This publication is a supplement to the Florida 4-H Food Challenge guides. Its purpose is to mimic the current food industry standards regarding proper personal hygiene and food preparation. This guide also includes a helpful checklist.

Lactose Intolerance: What Consumers Need to Know

Matthew D. Krug, Matthew Krug, andAmy Simonne

Lactose intolerance is a condition that occurs when people cannot effectively digest lactose. Lactose intolerance is often related to our age and genetic origin and the majority of the world’s population with Asian or African origins is lactose intolerant.Managing lactose intolerance and malabsorption depends on the intensity and severity of symptoms. Treatments include reducing or eliminating lactose-containing foods (dairy), replacing lactose-containing foods with other foods containing similar nutrients, and using lactase supplements or similar products. This publication will provide information and guidance for consumers so that they may find the right information for their situation.