Ten Summertime Tips For Avoiding Food-Related Illness

As the weather turns warm, homeowners across America start preparing for summertime fun: dragging the grill out of storage, cleaning off the lawn furniture, opening the pool, and visiting the hardware store for everything from lawnmowers to bug zappers.

From Memorial Day through Labor Day, Americans love to cook for family and friends - whether it's a backyard barbecue, a company picnic, a clambake on the beach, or marshmallows around the campfire. Whatever the occasion, we love to get together and enjoy good company and good food.

Unfortunately, hot weather and a casual atmosphere are also the perfect ingredients for some unwanted guests - the bacteria that can cause food-related illnesses. For too many people this summer, a neighborhood barbecue or a picnic in the park will result in a foodborne illness that could range from mild to devastating.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that every year, more than 75 million Americans get sick from food-related illnesses. While the majority of these cases are caused by bacteria that originate at the source, or in the food processing stages, some illnesses each year are caused by poor food-handling practices. These ten tips, recommended by the CDC and other food safety experts, will help keep your food safe this summer, on its journey from the shelf or refrigerator to your plate.

1. If you're sick, stay away from the food. It's so obvious, it's often overlooked. If you have a cold, a fever, an infection, or any such ailment, let someone else do the food prep and the serving.

2. Wash your hands. Thoroughly. Frequently. Experts recommend at least 20 seconds, with soap and warm water, before and after handling food, and after bathroom visits.

3. Keep your surfaces clean. Using warm, soapy water, wash countertops, plates, cutting boards, cooking utensils, and so on, as you prepare each food item.

4. Wear gloves when appropriate. Local health authorities, such as this one in Maricopa County, Arizona, require non-latex gloves be worn by workers in food establishments when handling ready-to-eat items, or when a worker has fake fingernails or nail polish. It's a good idea to do the same if you're preparing the food for your local church picnic.

5. Keep different foods separate. The transfer of bacteria from one food to another, known as 'cross-contamination,' can occur very easily when you're handling foods like raw meat, eggs, and seafood. Use a separate cutting board for each type of food, and immediately wash any surface that has held these kinds of raw food. Never place cooked food on a plate that just held raw food.

6. Wash fruits and vegetables under running tap water, and scrub firm-skin items with a clean vegetable brush. Even if a fruit has a rind that will not be eaten, it should still be washed on the outside. The action of cutting through rind with a knife can carry bacteria from the surface of the fruit or vegetable into the food itself.

7. Make sure your grill is hot enough to cook on. Some people only cook outdoors once or twice a year, so it's easy to overlook important grilling practices. But you should make sure your grill gets up to the proper temperature to prepare whatever food you are grilling. Consult the manufacturer's instructions if you are in any doubt.

8. Cook food well enough to kill any bacteria that may be present. There are many resources on the internet, such as this one, that gives you the proper cooking temperature for different foods. Use a meat thermometer when grilling outdoors. It's tempting to do things more casually in the summer, but when it comes to food safety, there's no margin for error. Grilling meat or fish outdoors requires the same internal food temperature as cooking indoors, to kill bacteria.

9. Don't leave food out in the sun. Experts suggest a maximum of one hour, in hot weather, before food should be refrigerated. This is really important to remember at outdoor meals, where it's easy to forget that the potato salad has been sitting out for half a day. At temperatures below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the growth of bacteria slows down. Especially in warm weather, put leftovers in the refrigerator as soon as possible.

10. Keep your cooler full. People don't always realize that a full cooler stays colder than a half empty one. So to keep food at low temperatures, pack plenty of ice into coolers, and keep them as cold as possible. Enjoy your summer cooking, and stay healthy!

Neil Street is a web publisher and writer. He is committed to safe food handling practices, including the appropriate use of latex gloves, aprons, and non-latex gloves.

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