Summer is a time for making memories with friends and family. But it’s best if those memories are happy ones. When hosting a barbeque or a picnic, be sure to brush up on food safety tips to ensure your guests don’t get food poisoning.
People experience more foodborne illnesses during the summer months because warm temperatures help bacteria multiply faster on food that’s left out after being prepared. People also cook and eat outside more often in conditions that may sacrifice hygiene.
The warmer months should be a relatively care-free time, but when it comes to food safety, it’s important to make sure that your summer events don’t get remembered as the time everyone got food poisoning. Here’s what you need to know.
Food Safety Basics
Although we talk about food “poisoning,” most foodborne illness is actually infection by dangerous bacteria that grows on food. To prevent such infections, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) outline four steps to food safety:
- Clean
- Separate
- Cook and
- Chill
Clean
Always wash your hands with soap and water before handling food, and after touching uncooked meat, seafood, eggs, or flour. In between preparing each food item, wash utensils, cutting boards, silverware and any other surfaces that food has touched with soap and hot water. Rinse off fruit and vegetables before cooking (or eating raw).
Separate
To avoid cross-contamination, ensure that raw meat, seafood, and eggs never touch ready-to-eat foods. Use multiple cutting boards; one for meat and seafood, and a different one for everything else.
Perhaps surprisingly, you should not wash raw chicken. The bacteria on raw chicken will be killed when you cook it but could spread to other foods via washing water that splashes in the sink or on work surfaces.
Cook
Different types of food need to reach different temperatures to be safe, usually between 140°F and 165°F. Food must reach a high enough internal temperature to kill all the bacteria, and the best way to ensure that it does is to correctly use a food thermometer.
Microwaved food should always reach 165°F and be allowed to sit for a few minutes after heating so that cold spots can absorb heat from hotter areas, ensuring the food is completely cooked.
Chill
Bacteria grow best in the “Danger Zone” around room temperature – that is, temperatures between 40°F – 140°F. Thaw frozen food in the refrigerator or in a cold-water bath to keep it below 40 degrees until you’re ready to cook it.
Hot food that won’t be eaten right away should be stored in shallow containers and refrigerated so it cools quickly. Once you remove perishable food from refrigeration, it should be eaten within 2 hours (if not reheated). If it’s exposed to temperatures above 90°F, as in a parked car, food is only considered to be safe for one hour.
Who’s at Highest Risk of Getting Food Poisoning
Food safety is important for everyone, no matter who’s coming to your picnic. But people at higher risk of becoming ill from foodborne bacteria include those who are:
- older than 65
- younger than 5
- pregnant, or
- have a weakened immune system.
These people are also more likely to become seriously ill when they do get food poisoning.
If you’re hosting a summer gathering, make sure that you provide some safer food choices for your guests who are at higher risk.
Many popular picnic foods are common culprits spreading foodborne illnesses, such as premade deli salads, cut melon and unwashed raw vegetables, smoked fish or cold cuts, dairy items, potato salad or egg salad, and unpasteurized juices.
Tips to Stay Safe & Avoid Food Poisoning
By taking the following precautions, you can avoid the additional risks created by outdoor summer celebrations:
Packing and transport
- Clean all fruits and vegetables before you leave home.
- Seal raw meat carefully and keep it separate from other foods.
- Keep hot and cold food separate to avoid the temperature danger zone (between 40°F – 140°F).
- Use separate coolers for food and drinks so that food stays cold no matter how many times people open the cooler to get a beverage.
- Don’t depend on fresh water from a lake or stream – for drinking, meal preparation or washing – no matter how clean it looks. Bring enough of your own water for drinking and cleaning unless you know you’ll have access to taps with potable water. If that isn’t possible, follow the CDC’s guidelines for treating water to remove germs.
Grilling
Marinate foods in the refrigerator before you leave the house. And if you plan to use the marinade as a sauce for cooked items, set a portion aside before you put the rest on the raw meat.
If you are going to grill away from home, don’t partially cook meat in advance (especially if the internal temperature stays in the danger zone). Storing heated meat, even if you are going to cook it further, is unsafe.
The risk of cooking meat unevenly is higher on a grill or open fire. To ensure it’s cooked thoroughly, bring a meat thermometer and bookmark a chart of safe cooking temperatures on your phone.
Placing cooked hamburgers back on the plate that held the raw patties exposes them to bacteria. Make it a point to use separate plates and utensils for raw vs. cooked dishes. Also, before eating, check served food for foreign objects like bugs or bristles from your grill brush.
Serving
Keep coolers out of the sun and use refrigerator thermometers in each cooler to make sure food stays outside the temperature danger zone (between 40°F – 140°F). Replace ice as it melts and drain off the water.
Once food is removed from the cooler or the grill, don’t let it sit out for more than two hours (or one hour if the temperature is above 90°F). However much you dislike throwing out food, it’s safer to throw away food that has been sitting out a long time than to bring contaminated leftovers home.
Food Poisoning Symptoms
Often mistaken for stomach flu, the most common symptoms of food poisoning include
- Diarrhea
- Stomach pain or cramps
- Nausea
- Vomiting, and
- Fever
Even a mild case of food poisoning is miserable, and some foodborne illnesses, like E. coli or Salmonella, can be fatal, especially for high-risk populations.
Foodborne illness can appear as soon as 30 minutes after eating contaminated food, and usually becomes noticeable in the first 48 hours after exposure. However, some bacteria, like Botulism or Salmonella, can grow for days before causing symptoms, and Listeria can take up to two weeks.
Severe symptoms of food poisoning include:
- Bloody diarrhea
- Diarrhea that lasts more than 3 days
- Temperature over 102°F
- Inability to keep liquids down
- Signs of dehydration: not urinating, dry mouth and throat, dizziness when standing up.
For most people, a case of food poisoning will resolve on its own fairly quickly. There is not much you can do except rest and try to stay hydrated, taking small, frequent sips of plain water. Do not attempt to eat until your symptoms decrease.
If you are sick for for more than two days or your food poisoning symptoms become severe, contact your primary care provider or call DispatchHealth to schedule an urgent care house call.
Treatment for Food Poisoning
Anyone belonging to an at-risk group should seek medical attention right away if they think they have food poisoning.
Even if you are not immuno-compromised, if you have symptoms for more than two days or they become severe, contact your primary care provider or DispatchHealth, or go to your nearest Emergency Room.
Nearly half of food poisoning cases in people over age 65 require hospitalization.
Even minor cases of food poisoning can cause complications during pregnancy, and children younger than 5 are three times more likely to be hospitalized by Salmonella infection.
Severe cases of food poisoning can lead to meningitis, kidney failure, and even brain damage. The effects of food poisoning can linger for months or even years, and in some cases, food poisoning can even lead to death.
When it comes to foodborne illness, it really is better to be safe than sorry. To prevent food poisoning for yourself or your guests, practice the four steps to food safety – clean, separate, cook, and chill – so you can all have a safe, fun, and healthy summer.