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May 26, 2005
Prairie Fare: Perfect Picnics Begin with Safe Food
Who can resist a picnic on a warm summer day with a gentle breeze? Unfortunately, there are a number of pests that try to foil our best attempts at perfect picnics. Troops of ants march, ready to invade. Flies buzz by, alerting all their friends of the upcoming gourmet feast. Squadrons of mosquitoes swarm overhead, waiting to attack their relaxing human banquets. Insects aside, the worst threats to great picnics are the "bugs" we can’t see. Bacteria, such as Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7, listeria and staphylococcus, are invisible enemies that exert their effects a few hours to a few days after the meal. If you’re lucky, you only end up with flulike symptoms that last a few days. Young children, infants, pregnant women, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems are among the most vulnerable to food poisoning or foodborne illness. In fact, every year about one in four Americans falls victim to eaten food. Of those sickened, 5,000 die annually. Cases of foodborne illness tend to peak during warm summer months when people head outdoors to cook and eat. Warm temperatures are bacteria’s best friend. Some bacteria can double in number every 10 to 20 minutes. What can you do to hold bacterial numbers down and help keep you, your family and your friends safe from bouts of foodborne illness? * Start with safety at the grocery store. Buy your perishable items, such as meat, salads and milk products, last and get them home quickly. While you can’t haul your refrigerator with you, there are a number of ways to keep foods cold. If you plan to transport foods to a lake cottage or distant destination, bring coolers and ice. The large blocks of ice available in many stores tend to resist melting better than cubes. Frozen gel ice packs are another option. * Avoid cross-contamination, a leading cause of foodborne illness. Pack raw meat and ready-to-eat foods, such as salads, in separate coolers. Keep canned beverages separate from meats because the raw meat juices could contaminate the cans and eventually you. Since contaminated ice has been linked with a number of foodborne illness outbreaks, maintain a separate ice-filled cooler for use with beverages. * Wash your hands often. Spend at least 20 seconds at the sink scrubbing your hands thoroughly with soap and water. Time yourself. Twenty seconds is longer than you might think. If there are no hand-washing facilities at the picnic site, bring a container of water and some soap from home or at least some wet hand wipes. Hand sanitizers, such as hand gels, can cut down bacterial numbers, but they are not a substitute for good hand washing. * Avoid bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat foods by using clean utensils, such as tongs or other utensils, to serve food. For example, put a spoon or set of tongs in the potato chip or tortilla chip bowl. * Use a food thermometer to gauge doneness. Color is not a reliable indicator. Cook burgers to an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees, chicken breasts to 170 degrees and fish until it’s opaque and flakes with a fork. Whole turkeys on the grill should reach at least 180 degrees in the thickest part. If you used a marinade, it’s safest to throw out any leftover marinade unless you are able to boil the marinade for several minutes. Use a clean plate for serving. * Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold. Toss perishable foods, such as salads and meat, if they spend more than two hours in outdoor temperatures under 90 degrees. If the outdoor temperature tops 90 degrees, toss perishable food after one hour. Whenever possible, help control food temperatures by serving bowls of salads nested in ice. Here’s a quick snack mix that requires no baking or refrigeration, so it’s great to bring on an outdoor hike.
Source:
Julie Garden-Robinson, (701) 231-7187, jgardenr@ndsuext.nodak.edu |
Market Advisor: |
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North Dakota State University |
