No matter what season it is or what the occasion, safe food handling and preparation is always a very important subject for the health and wellbeing of you, your family, and your friends. There are several simple steps that can be taken to ensure a safe holiday, dinner party, or tailgate party.

• The first and most important thing is to wash your hands often for at least 20 seconds especially when handling raw meat or poultry.
• Change kitchen sponges often, they are crawling with all kinds of germs and bacteria.
• Always cut fruits and vegetables and other ready to eat foods on the cutting board BEFORE cutting raw meat; it is best to have a separate cutting board specifically for meat and poultry.
• Plastic cutting boards are preferred for meat and poultry because of their ease of cleaning; when using wood, every so often. Pour vinegar on the cutting board and sprinkle with baking soda; this will get in the cracks and “bubble” everything out.
• Wash utensils, cutting boards, and hands after contact with raw food.
• Food should be refrigerated at or below 40 degrees, and frozen at or below 0 degrees; buy a refrigerator thermometer.

These are a few very general things that should be done every time you get ready to cook and while you are cooking.

When buying and storing meat, poultry, and shellfish, there are a few procedures that should be followed:

• Buy meat with a safe handling label which indicates the meat has been safely processed. And has instructions on safe handling, storage, and cooking procedures.
• Always pick up meat last before leaving the store and have it bagged separately from other groceries.
• Freeze or refrigerate meat immediately when you get home
• Keep meat tightly wrapped and stored in the meat drawer, or the coldest place in the refrigerator. Avoid storing meat on the top shelf, not only is it the warmest place in the fridge, but you risk juices dripping down and contaminating other foods.
• Meat can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, any longer, and it will need to be frozen. Poultry, sausages, ground meats, and organs should only be refrigerated for 1-2 days.
• Never refreeze food that you have thawed out already. Thaw meat in a refrigerator or in a bowl of cold water (kept tightly wrapped) in which case the water is changed every 30 minutes. Never thaw meat on a countertop at room temperature.

When buying fish or shellfish, buy from a reputable fish monger or supermarket that you trust. Fish should look fresh; they should be bright and look alive. Look for bright eyes and gills, and for the bones and flesh to be together tightly.

• If cooked seafood is stored in the same case as raw seafood, don’t buy it, it could have been cross contaminated.
• Fish and shellfish should be kept on ice between 32-38 degrees, and the ice should be changed regularly.
• Eating raw shellfish, (oysters ect.) fish, (sushi) or rare fish (tuna, salmon) can pose health risks; especially to children seniors, and pregnant women.
• Fresh shellfish should be kept alive in the refrigerator in a well vented container with a moist towel covering them.
• Muscles, clams and oysters should always be alive until cooked (unless they were frozen immediately after they were caught.)
• If a shellfish is open a little, see if its alive by tapping it on the counter or any hard surface, if its alive it will close, if it doesn’t close, it’s dead and should be discarded.

Now that fall has arrived, so has football, and that means many of you will be tailgating or cooking outdoors. This is great, and a lot of fun, but extra precautions need to be taken when cooking outside without a refrigerator and a sink handy.

• Pack moist towelettes or a “no water needed” liquid hand sanitizer so you and your friends can stay sanitary.
• Pack meat tightly sealed in a cooler of ice; make sure the cooler stays at or below 40 degrees by packing your trusty refrigerator thermometer.
• Store raw meats and ready to eat foods separate.
• Don’t use the marinating liquid on cooked meats, it is full of bacteria, if you insist on using it, boil it for several minutes to kill the bacteria.
• Never consume the ice from the cooler where raw meat has been stored, it may have leaked and contaminated it.
• Use separate cutting boards and utensils for raw meat and ready to eat foods. The only way to properly ensure meats have reached a safe temperature to eat is to use a meat thermometer. Typical tailgating food such as hamburgers, sausages, and bratwurst, should reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Chicken breasts should have a final temperature of 170 degrees. It is important to pull the food off of the heat a few degrees below the target temperature because the food will continue to cook until the residual heat has time to fully escape (about 5 minutes); this will also allow the juices to circulate back through the meat.

If these few simple steps are followed, it will greatly reduce the chances of food illness. Grilling out and tailgating are very fun and a great way to enjoy the company of friends and family and a great way to prepare food. Be careful, have fun, and bon appetite!