Food safety is usually taken for granted by buying public but everyone's attention was recently directed to food poisoning involving some meat that was undercooked. It was determined that problem never would have happened if meat had been cooked properly. E.Coli 0157.H7 is a potent virus, but it can be completely destroyed when meat is fully cooked.

It is important for consumers to take an all-around safety approach to purchasing, storing and preparing both traditional and new meat and poultry products. Ultimately, consumers and food handlers bear responsibility for keeping food safe once it leaves store.

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture, about 85 percent of foodborne illness cases could be avoided each year if consumers would handle food properly. The most common foodborne illnesses are caused by a combination of bacteria, naturally present in environment, and food handling mistakes. Ironically, these are also easiest types of foodborne illnesses to prevent. Proper cooking or processing of raw meat and poultry kills bacteria that can cause foodborne illness.

But, if you take out pad and pen and do math, you will quickly decide that a home machine - a good home machine - will pay for itself rather quickly.

Let's assume that you buy just one espresso drink per day at modest cost of $3.50 (I know most drinks run higher and many of us cannot get by on just one per day!) That adds up to over $1277 per year! If you have friends, roommates, family (my wife, oh my wife!), then you can easily see cost-effectiveness of an commercial grade home models.

Plus, when you get good at making drinks (and that's a lot of fun), you can wow friends and family. It beats a card trick most everytime.

A Word of Caution when Buying an Espresso Machine

If you're budget minded, like I am, you might be tempted to snap up a $60 expresso machine at Target. Hey, I love Target too. But you will likely be disappointed by performance of machine. Frankly, I think a good barista can make a decent drink on any machine - but you'll likely wish you saved up a bit over time and purchased a higher quality pump-driven model.

It's true that pump-driven espresso makers are bigger, heavier, and more difficult to use (until you learn to use it). But they'll produce a better cup of coffee. And you will be happier in long-run as a result.

What should I look for when buying an espresso machine?

Machine Look and Design: