Daily News
Football enthusiasts everywhere are gearing up to tackle tailgating — are you ready for the kick off? This season, prepare to defend your pre- and post-game gatherings from the most challenging opponent — food poisoning.
Planning is the key to keeping your food safe during a tailgate, so get your gear ready now. Do you have the right coolers, utensils and all the tools you need to cook? While packing the grill and fuel for cooking be sure you don’t forget the most valuable player, the food thermometer. It will help you to defeat bacteria. Meat and poultry cooked on a grill often browns very fast on the outside so the only way to be certain that the food has reached a safe minimum internal temperature is to use a food thermometer. This utensil not only keeps your guests safe from harmful food bacteria, but it also helps you to avoid overcooking, giving you safe and flavorful meat.
To protect yourself, your family, and friends from foodborne illness during tailgate time, safe food handling when eating outdoors is critical. Read on for simple food safety guidelines for transporting your food to the picnic site, and preparing and serving it safely once you’ve arrived.
· Wash hands with warm soapy water for at least 20 seconds before preparing food, after handling raw meat or poultry and before eating.
· Use disinfecting wipes to clean food tables to avoid cross contamination.
· Keep raw meats and poultry separate from all other foods and wrap tightly when packing.
· Never ever put cooked food on a plate or tray that held raw meat.
· Don’t use utensils that touched raw meat to remove cooked meat from the grill.
· Clean the thermometer probe after testing meat so you don’t transfer bacteria.
· Use ice to keep cold foods cold during dinner.
· Pack leftovers in clean containers and put them in a cooler again with ice.
· Throw away warmed perishable food.