Begin the Summertime Grilling Season with a Food Safety Home Run.
Days are getting warmer, baseball season is in full swing, and Independence Day is fast approaching—all
signs that the summer cookout season is nearly upon us. As you welcome summer at your Independence Day
weekend barbecue this year, USDA reminds you that safe grilling practices are the key to making your
cookout a big hit with your guests.
"We want Americans to know that simple food safety steps can make cookouts and picnics worry-free for
hosts," said USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Elisabeth Hagen. "A food thermometer and our
virtual food safety representative, Ask Karen, may be the most important ingredients for families and friends
hosting events throughout the year, including fun, safe summer cookouts over Independence Day Weekend."
The experts at the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline have broken down safe cooking and handling practices
into four simple steps: Clean, Separate, Cook, and Chill. To Be Food Safe this summer, round these grilling
bases and your barbecue is sure to be a home run.
First base: cleaning: First things first—make sure you start with clean surfaces and clean hands. Be sure
that you and your guests wash your hands before preparing or handling food. Hands should be washed with
soap and warm water for 20 seconds before and after handling food. Equally important are the surfaces that
come in contact with raw and cooked foods—make sure they are clean before you start and are washed
frequently.
Second base: Separate: Raw meats and poultry should be prepared separately from vegetables and
cooked foods. As you chop meats and veggies, be sure to use separate cutting boards. Juices from raw meats
can contain harmful bacteria that could spread to raw veggies and already cooked foods.
Third base: Cook: Never begin grilling without your most important tool—a food thermometer. Color is
not a reliable indicator of doneness. Meat and poultry cooked on a grill often brown quickly and may appear
done on the outside, but still may not have reached a safe minimum internal temperature to kill any harmful
bacteria. Pork, lamb, veal, and whole cuts of beef should be cooked to 145 °F as measured by a food
thermometer placed in the thickest part of the meat, followed by a three-minute rest time before carving or
consuming. Hamburgers and other ground beef should reach 155 °F. All poultry should reach a minimum
temperature of 165 °F. Fish should be cooked to 145 °F. Fully cooked meats like hot dogs should be grilled
to 165 °F or until steaming hot.
As you take the cooked meats off the grill, be sure to place them on a clean platter, not on the dish that held
them when they were raw. The juices left on the plate from raw meat can spread bacteria to safely cooked
food.
If you prefer to prepare meats using a smoker, the temperature in the smoker should be maintained between
225 °F and 300 °F for safety. Be sure to use your food thermometer to be certain the food has reached a safe
minimum internal temperature.
Home Plate: Chill: Keeping food at a safe temperature can be a concern at outdoor picnics and
cookouts. Too often, food is prepared and left to sit out while guests munch over the course of several hours.
Bacteria grow most rapidly between 41 °F and 135 °F, so perishable food should never sit out for more than
two hours. If the temperature is over 90 °F—which is common in the summer—food shouldn't sit out more
than one hour. Refrigerate or freeze leftovers promptly and discard any food that has been out too long.
Think of your hot and cold foods like your starting pitcher—after two hours, they've gone the distance and
are tired. If it's a particularly hot day, they're going to be ready to chill out a bit sooner. It's important to keep
hot foods hot and cold foods cold. Hot foods can be kept hot on the grill and cold foods can be kept chilled
with ice packs or ice sources in a cooler.
Home run! You've circled the bases of safe grilling!
One of the best resources available before you plan a summer cookout is USDA's virtual representative, Ask
Karen, a feature that allows you to ask food safety-related questions 24 hours a day. Visit Ask Karen at
AskKaren.gov or call USDA's Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854). Recorded
messages are available 24 hours a day and the Hotline is staffed with food safety experts, Monday through
Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. Ask Karen is available as an app for your iPad, iPhone, or
Android mobile device, so you can take her with you to the grocery store, to the barbecue grill, or wherever
you may have food safety questions. Go to m.AskKaren.gov on your mobile device's browser, or download
the app for free from the Android and iTunes app stores. In portable format and available 24/7, mobile Ask
Karen is your food safety base coach all season long!
President Obama's Food Safety Working Group (FSWG) developed three core principles to help guide food
safety in the United States: prioritizing prevention, strengthening surveillance and enforcement, and
improving response and recovery. In the past three months, USDA has announced measures to safeguard the
public from foodborne illnesses.
In March, USDA announced implementation of revised and new performance standards aimed at reducing
the prevalence of Salmonella and Campylobacter in young chickens and turkeys. USDA expects the new
standards—which require establishments slaughtering chicken and turkey to make continued reductions in
the occurrence of pathogens—to prevent as many as 25,000 foodborne illnesses. In April, USDA proposed a
new requirement for the meat and poultry industry called "test and hold" that, once enacted, will significantly
reduce the amount of unsafe food reaching consumers by allowing USDA to hold products from commerce
until USDA test results for harmful substances are received. Earlier in May, as part of the continuing effort to
build a 21st century public health agency focused on ensuring a safe food supply, USDA introduced the
Mobile Ask Karen app to provide consumers fast, reliable food safety.
*Times indicate length of time required to accurately measure food temperature with a food thermometer
**Costa Fruit & Produce, 18 Bunker Hill Industrial Park, Boston MA 02129 617-912-8080
www.freshideas.com
Enjoy your summer from Café staff past and present.