We're just a few weeks away from Memorial Day, the official start of picnic and grilling season. Warm weather events present lots of opportunities for outdoor fun with family and friends. While you're outdoors enjoying the weather, don't let an accident with food ruin your or your family's good time. Brush up on food safety, including packing and transporting food, grilling, and serving, with the FDA's guide to handling food safely when enjoying food outdoors.
When packing and transporting food, start with clean hands and surfaces for preparation. If you're bringing cold dishes to your picnic, store them in a cooler with ice packs and keep them at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below to prevent bacterial growth. People will be in and out of the beverage cooler all day, so it's best to maintain separate coolers for beverages and side dishes to keep bacteria at bay. Keep uncooked meat, poultry and seafood away from prepared foods, and make sure they're sealed tight to avoid contamination. Be sure to rinse fruits and vegetables before serving.
If you plan on grilling, familiarize yourself with a the Safe Food Temperature Chart, which tells you the safe internal temperature for all kinds of grilled meat, seafood, and poultry. Marinate food in the refrigerator, and never reuse a marinade as a sauce unless it's been kept separate from the raw food the entire time. Cook all food thoroughly and serve food on clean platters with clean utensils.
Keep cold foods cold, and hot food hot. A good rule of thumb for food safety is that once you've served it, food can be outside for about two hours before it's no longer good to eat, and only one hour if temperatures are above 90 degrees. After that point, food should be discarded. Extend the life of cold dishes like chicken salad or desserts by placing their serving dishes inside a larger container filled with ice.
