Safetydude's Safety Tip of the Week

Turkey Safety Tips

 Safetydude's Safety Tip of the Week

Summer Food Safety Tips

With the weather finally heating up, picnics and cook outs will be well underway. Before battling hungry ants and swallowing sand sandwiches, be sure you know how to prepare and keep food safely while avoiding bacteria and cross-contamination.

Storage and Temperature

• Bacteria thrives on the slightest amount of warmth, which means food should not be left sitting out for longer than two hours—or one hour on extremely hot days.
  
• Perishable foods such as lunch meats, cooked meats and potato or pasta salad with creamy dressings should be kept in an insulated cooler with freezer packs or blocks of ice.
  
• Keep coolers containing perishable foods closed as much as possible, Consider using one cooler for beverages and another for perishables, since the beverage cooler is likely to be opened more frequently.
  
• Throw away all perishable leftovers that have been left out for more than one hour.
  
  

Transporting Food

• When you pack a cooler for an outdoor barbecue or cookout, wrap raw meats, including hamburgers and sausages, tightly and put them on the bottom to prevent juices from dripping onto other foods.
  
• Freeze meats ahead of time, and allow them to thaw in the cooler.
  
• Bring clean plastic bags and containers to store leftover food.
  
• When camping or picnicking, find out if you will have access to a source of clean water. If not, bring extra bottles of water and earmark them for cleaning and food preparation. Pack plastic wipes, sanitizing lotions and paper towels, too.
  
• Avoid mayo or cream based dressings and stick with vinaigrettes when planning beachside luncheons.
  
• When packing a beach picnic, keep food refrigerated for as long as possible before placing it in the cooler.
  
• In advance, fill Tupperware containers with water and freeze to use as ice blocks in your cooler. This way, melting ice won’t fill the cooler with tepid, bug friendly water which can also soak and ruin food.
  

Barbeque Safety

• Test the doneness of grilled meats with a digital instant-read food thermometer, rather than slicing them open and releasing the juices that keep meat moist and tender. If you have to check more than once, clean the thermometer before using it again.
  
• It’s equally important not to overcook meat for fear of under doing it. Tough, dry meat just isn’t worth all the effort, and carcinogenic carbons are released through charring.
  
• Use two sets of tongs: one to place and turn raw meat on the grill, and one for removing cooked meat from the grill.
  
• When defrosting food for the grill, meat should be thawed in the refrigerator or in the microwave, but never at room temperature. This allows bacteria to grow on the surface, even if the inside remains frozen.
  
• Eat cooked food while it's still hot. Bacteria can grow when food is allowed to cool down slowly.
  
• If defrosting in the microwave, cook the meat immediately. It's not safe to put it back in the fridge, since the food will not cool down quickly enough to prevent bacterial growth.
  

Outdoor Eating

• Flies carry disgusting amounts of bacteria picked up from a variety of sources, including dog droppings and manure. You certainly don’t want this landing on your meal, so always use bug netting or napkins to cover food, or keep it in closed containers when not serving.
  
• Rather than worry about keeping hot foods hot and cold foods cold, limit the number of perishable foods on your outdoor dining menu.
  
• Serve washed, whole fruit instead of cut up fruit salad, which attracts bugs and bees.
  
• Serve cookies and brownies for dessert rather than perishable cream filled pies or ice cream.

The above Safety Tip was extracted from the Dunk & Associates Safety Talk on Summer Food Safety

Picture of the Week

For the record, I hope this does not comply with anyone's Ladder Safety practices