Summer brings to the table picnics and barbecues, salty chips and onion dip, hot dogs and cheeseburgers, juicy watermelon, macaroni and potato salads to backyards across America. The smell of food cooking on the grill catches everyone’s attention and stimulates those salivary glands. Food just seems to taste better out in the sunshine with family and friends.
Preparing and keeping food safe can be difficult on a sweltering 90-degree day. One in six Americans contract a food-borne illness yearly. Risks include gastrointestinal infections from food undercooked, left out too long or not kept cold enough. The bacteria danger zone for food is between 41 and 140 degrees. Bacteria can double every 20 minutes at those temperatures. Serious injuries can also be caused by the bristles from the grill cleaning brush.
To keep perishable foods cold in a cooler, keep them separate from beverages to decrease opening. Keep coolers out of the sun. The recommendation by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is to pack a cooler three-quarters full of refrigerated or frozen foods and then fill with ice or ice packs.
