Picnic Food Safety

It is a beautiful fall day.  The air is crisp and clean. The sun is shining, the perfect day for a picnic. The burgers are sizzling on the grill; your guests all have a beverage.  The bocce ball and horseshoes have begun.  Your wife is putting out the potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans and all the condiments. You are surveying your back yard domain; you want all your friends and family to have a memorable day.  How they remember the day may be in part on how you keep your food safe for them to consume. I have found that many people simply do not know the guidelines for keeping food safe.

When cooking at home you should follow the same guidelines that restaurants follow.  The basic principle is hot foods hot and cold foods cold!  The question is for how long and what temperature.

The first principle we will discuss is the Temperature DANGER Zone.  The danger zone is from 41-135 degrees.  You want to keep food in the temperature danger zone for as short as time possible.  Single bacteria can grow in the danger zone from one cell to 1 billion cells within 10 hours.  That little tummy ache you have could very well and probably is from a food borne illness.

  Cold food can be held for up to six hours if the following conditions are met:

1. It must be kept at 41 degrees or lower before being removed from refrigeration.
2. The food must not exceed 70 degrees during the six hours.
3. The food should be discarded after 6 hours.

  Hot foods can be held up to four hours if the following conditions are met:

1. It was kept at 135 degrees or higher before being removed from the heat.
2. It is discarded after 4 hours.

Just remember, HOT FOOD HOT, COLD FOOD COLD.  My personal motto is “If in doubt, throw it out”.   Now go back to that picnic and have a great time.