Our family is having a Memorial Day picnic. How can I keep the food safe to eat?

A perfect question to ask as the Memorial Day weekend kicks off the beginning of summer activities and the picnic season. While summer picnics are fun, we need to remember that many outbreaks of food-borne illness can be traced to unsafe picnic and barbecue practices. Here are some food safety tips to keep in mind this summer:

Purchasing

• Keep packages of raw meat and poultry separate from other foods. Consider using plastic bags to enclose individual packages of raw meat and poultry.
• Make sure meat and poultry products are refrigerated as soon as possible after purchase.
• Canned goods should be free of dents or cracks.

Storage

• At home, refrigerate or rewrap and freeze meat, fish and poultry immediately.
• To prevent raw juices from dripping on other foods, store meat, fish and poultry in plastic bags or on a plate on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.
• Store canned goods in a cool, clean, dry place. Avoid extreme heat or cold.

Preparation

• Don’t let juices from raw meat, poultry or seafood come in contact with cooked foods or foods that will be eaten raw, such as fruits or salad ingredients. Plates and utensils that come into contact with raw meat shouldn’t be used for serving cooked meat or other foods.
• Discard marinades after using them once.
• Thaw foods in the refrigerator and not at room temperature.
• When using a microwave oven to thaw food, cook it immediately after thawing.

Cooking

• Cook meat thoroughly. Hamburgers should be cooked until they reach 160 degrees, the temperature recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for consumers to destroy bacteria. The best way to make sure meats are cooked completely is with an inexpensive meat thermometer. Do not rely on the internal color of the meat. Some ground meat may turn prematurely brown before a safe internal temperature of 160 degrees is reached.

Serving

• Choose a serving style which will allow food to be served as quickly as possible. Keep hot foods above 140 degrees and cold foods below 40 degrees.
• Cut melons are potentially hazardous so keep them on ice at 40 degrees or cooler.
• Chill the foods before you leave for a picnic and keep them cold until you eat them. Pack the salad in several small containers instead of one big serving bowl. Smaller units chill faster and can be used as needed, while the others stay cold.
• A cooler full of ice keeps food colder longer than an ice pack in a cooler. Because hot air rises, put the food below the ice or sandwich it between two layers. Cubed or chipped ice is more effective than one big chunk of ice.
• Never leave potentially hazardous foods, raw or cooked, at room temperature any longer than necessary — never longer than 2 hours.