Nothing compares to having a large spread for the big game. The best part of fall weekends is gathering with loved ones and sharing your favorite dishes! However, getting flagged for food poisoning is the last thing you want to happen. Because of this, it's crucial to prioritize food safety during your tailgate.
September is National Food Safety Education Month – a great time for some food safety reminders. And there’s no greater authority on the subject than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Here are some of the CDC’s best food-safety tips.
Know Your Food
Some foods are more associated with foodborne illnesses and food poisoning than others. They can carry harmful germs that can make you very sick if the food is contaminated. Those include:
- Raw foods of animal origin, specifically raw or undercooked meat and poultry, raw or lightly cooked eggs, unpasteurized milk, and raw shellfish
- Fruits and vegetables
While certain foods are more likely to make you sick, any food can get contaminated in the field, during processing, or during other stages in the food production chain, including through cross-contamination with raw meat in kitchens. So be mindful and be sure to take proper precautions.
Take Preparation Precautions
So how do you prevent contamination and food poisoning? It starts with following these four steps whenever you prepare or handle food:
1. Wash hands and surfaces often. Germs that cause food poisoning can survive in many places and spread around your kitchen. So wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap and water before, during, and after preparing food and before eating. Wash your utensils, cutting boards, and countertops with hot, soapy water, too, and rinse fresh fruits and vegetables under running water.
2. Separate the foods you’re preparing. Foods like raw meat, chicken, turkey, seafood, and eggs can spread germs. So be sure to separate them from cooked food and fresh produce. You should also use separate cutting boards and plates for raw meat, poultry, and seafood. It’s even a good idea to keep them away from other foods in grocery carts and the refrigerator to prevent cross contamination.
3. Cook everything to the right temperature. Food is safely cooked when the internal temperature gets high enough to kill germs that can make you sick. And you can’t tell that just by checking its color and texture. The only way is to use a food thermometer. So get one if you don’t have one, use it, and make sure you know the proper internal temperature for the food you’re cooking.
4. Refrigerate perishable foods promptly. Make sure you put foods that are likely to spoil or go bad quickly in the refrigerator right away. For perishable foods and leftovers, that’s within about 2 hours (if the outdoor temperature is above 90°F, it’s within 1 hour). It’s best to keep your refrigerator at 40°F or below. It’s important to thaw food safely as well. For frozen food, the safest way is in the refrigerator, in cold water, or in the microwave. Never thaw foods on the counter because bacteria can develop quickly when they reach room temperature.
Pack, Transport, And Serve Safely
Getting your foods safely from the oven, refrigerator, or freezer to the tailgate is critical, too. And it starts with keeping your cold foods cold and your hot foods hot. These tips from the FDA will help.
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Place cold foods in a cooler with ice or frozen gel packs right away. You need to keep them stored at 40°F or below until serving time in order to prevent bacterial growth. If you can, pack any meat, poultry, or seafood while they’re still frozen so they stay colder longer. If you have foods like chicken salad or desserts that are already in individual serving dishes, place them directly on ice or in a shallow container in a pan of ice.
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Once you get to your tailgate, limit the number of times you open your coolers. This will keep the contents cold longer. It’s a good idea to pack beverages in one cooler and perishable foods in another. That way, as tailgaters open and reopen the beverage cooler, the perishable foods won’t be exposed to the warm outdoor air. And as the ice in your coolers begins to melt, drain off the water and add more ice.
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Keep your hot foods at or above 140°F. The best way to do that is to wrap them well before you leave and place them in an insulated container until serving. You can also use a portable grill to keep them warm.
- Whether they’re hot or cold, no foods should sit out for longer than 2 hours. And if the outdoor temperature is above 90°F, that sit-out time drops to 1 hour. If any foods sit out longer than that, that safest thing to do is discard them.
So don’t be caught offside when you’re planning the spread for the big game this season. Bring your food safety A game to keep your tailgate tip-top and your family and friends full, happy, and healthy.