SAFETY TIPS FOR PICNICS AND BARBECUES

Summer is the time for outdoor eating and cooking. One of my regular readers asked me about how to avoid getting food poisoning at such events. She is right to be concerned. People all over the world get ill every summer from that wonderful picnic or barbecue. So here are some things you may want to keep in mind to avoid such problems.

• Try to find a shady outdoor eating spot, or bring along your own umbrella so that food is not sitting in the sun, including when served.
• Keep food cold until you are ready to eat it (40 degrees F) in a good cooler, which is best left in the open in the shade - not in the hot trunk of your car. Make sure the ice or ice packs are on top of the food.
• If you are bringing already cooked and hot foods with you, or cooking outdoors, make sure that you don't let the food sit at a warm temperature for more than an hour. Keep it hot, and eat it quickly (bacteria multiply fastest at 40-140 degrees F).
• Make sure you keep uncooked meats away from other items that you plan to eat raw (such as salads or breads) and that you use different utensils for each, so that there is no cross-contamination.
• Wash your hands before handling food, and take special precautions when handling raw or partly cooked meat (use tongs). I usually take along an extra bottle of water on picnics, just for hand washing.
• When barbecuing make sure that everything is well-cooked to 165 degrees F (also see June 18 post - "Are Hot Dogs Safe to Eat?", no matter how hungry you are. (A meat thermometer is a small and light item to throw into your picnic basket).
• Throw out leftovers if they have been sitting outside for more than an hour or your ice has melted.


To your good health,
TSF

ARE HOT DOGS SAFE TO EAT?

Humphrey Bogart said, " A hot dog at the ballpark is better than steak at the Ritz." But Consumer Reports calls them "tidy little bundles, of sodium, additives and fat." And that's not all. Add microbes to that list. They're not present all the time, but they do crop up often enough to create risks for people who are particularly vulnerable - children, older adults, the frail or seriously ill, and pregnant women.

We think of them as "cooked meat." But actually, they can carry a variety of bacteria, especially the dangerous Listeria monocytogenes. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) calls Listeria monocytogenes "a major public health risk." An estimated 1,600 Americans become seriously ill with listeriosis every year and 260 die from it (remember - such statistics are always an underestimation). The U.K. Food Standards Agency has also seen an increase over the past few years in England, Wales and Scotland, and to a lesser extent, in Northern Ireland. There has been a particularly notable rise among adults over 60 years of age. Listeriosis is a global problem.

Studies have shown that the ready-to-eat foods - such as hot dogs and other deli meats - pose the biggest risk. As The Safe Food Handbook advises, you need to heat them to 165 degrees F. Essentially, that means "steaming hot." Be especially careful when using a barbecue as it is easy to undercook meat. And make sure that juice from the package doesn't get onto any other food that you'll eat raw. If you take those precautions you don't have to worry about the bacterial risk - just those other ones like the additives and fat!

To your good health,
TSF