Judy Dodd, MS, RD, LDN Giant Eagle® Corporate Nutritionist
Summer heat, lack of refrigeration and a dishwasher are all basic ingredients for food-borne illness. Any food can be the beginning of introducing bacteria that, with heat and time, can cause of food-borne illness. Chopping any food, adding uncooked ingredients (like veggies) and using the same or lightly rinsed utensils are all danger points when heat and time cross paths. This doesn't mean giving up eating but it does mean taking food safety seriously.
It's always a good time to look at six basic guidelines to put into practice!
1. Keep hot food hot and cold food cold.
It can be as basic as bringing foods (and holding at a boil or simmer for a few minutes) to a safe serving temperature (165 degrees) and keeping cold foods at 40-45 degrees. Once out, keep hot food on a heating tray and cold foods over ice. You can bring your salad in a cooler or keep it in the refrigerator until serving time. And once on the table, it should be over ice or in and out quickly. This means coolers need to have plenty of ice and be well insulated!
As for hot foods, it's not good enough to continue to pop them in the microwave or over the grill to bring them back to temperature.
2. Follow the two-hour rule.
The clock starts as soon as hot foods begin to cool and cold foods move closer to room or outside temperature. Food left on a picnic table has a short lifespan and should be discarded rather than taken home. And rather than adding to the dish or display, start fresh! It may be best to only put part of the food on the table and keep the rest hot or cold under wraps!
3. Start CLEAN and keep it that way.
Wash hands (with hot water and soap) when handling any food or serving utensils. Sanitize counter tops, cutting surfaces, and utensils, including knives, and rinse fruits and vegetables under cold running water before you cut them for display.
Hand wipes, hand sanitizer, counter wipes or sanitizer, gloves and separate cutting boards for meat, bread and raw produce may seem like overkill, but are important tools. That may mean keeping the kids (and some adults) away from double dipping or using fingers to reach for food directly from the cooler!
4. Use disposables.
It may seem like a waste, but use the green-ware and stay safer with plenty of supplies that can be thrown away. Casually rinsing serving-ware under running water is not the way to stay safe.
5. Invest in and use cooking and food thermometers.
Meat, fish, chicken, and turkey all have safe cooking temperatures. And a food thermometer can confirm whether or not food has been at room temperature too long.
6. When in doubt, throw it out.
Food that has exceeded the two-hour rule, has been mishandled, has traveled miles without appropriate refrigeration or cooling, or has been "double-dipped" may look and smell ok — but the smell test is not an indicator!
Be sure to follow the necessary safety tips and protect your family and friends from food-borne illness.
August 2010