The Safety of Food on the Go

If you start with safe food, and handle it properly, your chances of preventing food-borne illness will increase greatly. Picnic and take-out foods can also be quite safe if handled properly.

When cooking foods beforehand, such as poultry, ham, vegetable, and pasta salads prepare them in plenty of time to thoroughly chill in the refrigerator. Divide large amounts of food into smaller containers for faster chilling and easier use.

Items, which do not require refrigeration, include fruits, vegetables, hard cheese, canned meat or fish, chips, bread, crackers, peanut butter, jelly, mustard, and pickles. You do not need to pack them in a cooler.

If you are marinating meat or poultry, do not store it on the counter. Place it in the refrigerator instead. If you are going to be using any of the marinade as a sauce later, reserve some before placing the raw meat in it. Never reuse a marinade unless it is boiled first to destroy the bacteria from the raw meat.

If you buy take-out foods such as fried chicken or barbecued beef, eat them within two hours of pickup. Another alternative would be to buy the foods far enough ahead of time to chill before packing them into a cooler.

When chilling food, it is important to maintain a constant temperature of 40º. When heating foods, it is important to cook to an internal temperature of at least 140º. If the food becomes any warmer than 40º during cooling, or any cooler than 140º during cooking, bacteria will start to develop.

This advice is important to remember, to prevent the spread of food-borne illness, especially during the summer months when families will be spending their evenings at picnics and cookouts. Food-borne illness is indiscriminate. It strikes the young and old alike when the proper precautions are not taken