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Article Title: 6 Food Safety Tips For Your Next Picnic
Author: Barb Dearing
Category: Family, Home
Word Count: 444
Keywords: folding picnic tables, picnics, food safety tips
Author's Email Address: [email protected]
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
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Planning a picnic? Then you'll want to take a minute to brush up on picnic food
safety tips. When air temperatures rise above 45 degrees Fahrenheit,
protein-based foods can become a breeding ground for bacteria. Unless you want
to serve food poisoning at your outdoor gathering, it's best to keep the
following food safety tips in mind.
1. Make sure to transport food in the proper containers. While non-perishable
food can be easily packed in a brown paper bag or cardboard box, foods such as
meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products, mayonnaise or creamy dressings are
very perishable and should be packed in an insulated cooler with ice packs to
keep food below 45 degrees F. These perishable foods should not be left
unchilled for more than 1 hour, and should never sit in direct sunlight.
2. Always wash your hands thoroughly before you begin cooking, and again after
touching raw meat, fish, or chicken. Wet napkins or hand sanitizers can be used
in a pinch to reduce the germs on your hands, but this won't completely
eliminate them.
3. Don't cross-contaminate by cutting vegetables or other ready-to-eat foods on
the same cutting board as chicken or meat. The knife and the cutting board
should be thoroughly cleaned in between uses. If proper washing facilities are
not available, it is best to bring two separate cutting boards - one for the
meat, and the other for vegetables and other foods that won't be cooked. Never
put cooked foods on the same plate that held the raw food.
4. Cook all food thoroughly. It's better to cook meat and poultry all the way
through than to partially cook it and finish cooking it later. Use a food
thermometer to make certain internal temperatures reach a minimum of the
following:
- hamburgers (ground meats and sausages, including pork sausages): 155
degrees F
- steaks and other beef, veal, lamb, fish and shellfish: 140 degrees F
- poultry: 165 degrees F
- pork (except pork sausage): 150 degrees F
5. Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold. Grilled meat or chicken should be
kept at 140 degrees F or warmer until serving. Cold foods should be kept in the
insulated cooler and the cooler itself should be shaded if possible.
6. Mind the leftovers. All uneaten food should be refrigerated as soon as
possible. Any food that has been unrefrigerated for more than four hours should
be thrown away.
By following these food safety tips, you can enjoy your picnic today, without
risking the misery of food poisoning tomorrow.
Barb Dearing is an online writer specializing in topics for home and family.
For the best picnic fun, she recommends the following website:
http://folding-picnic-tables.com
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