Keeping Your Picnic Healthy and Safe

With summertime coming soon, it is time to think about how much fun it is to enjoy cookouts and picnics with family and friends. It is also time to think about food safety. Adults and seniors need to be careful of increased risks of food poisoning. Before you pack your picnic basket or cooler, remember these food safety tips:

Packing Your Cooler

To keep cold foods safe, they need to be kept colder than 40 F to prevent bacteria from growing. Here's how to make sure your foods stay at the proper temperature.

• Take only the amount of food you will use.
• Make sure that all food is cold when you put it in the cooler. If you have frozen items, put them in the cooler frozen. This will help keep the other foods cold.
• Put colder foods on the bottom of the cooler.
• Keep cooked and raw foods in separate containers. Store meats separately in zip-top plastic bags.
• Pack the food in a well-insulated cooler with a tight lid. Fill the cooler with ice or use ice packs and frozen bottles of water. Do this just before you leave the house. Do not open it until you're ready to serve the food.
• Keep cold drinks in a separate cooler because this cooler will be opened and closed frequently.

Serving Food Safely

• Keep hot food hot. Hot foods need to be at 140 F or hotter to prevent the growth of bacteria. Take-out foods or foods cooked just before being transported to the picnic can be carried hot. Wrap hot food in towels and place inside a box or heavy paper bag. Keep these foods warm on a lit grill or use within one hour.
• Eat take-out foods such as fried chicken within two hours of pick-up or buy ahead of time and chill before packing foods into the cooler.
• Keep foods covered to keep safe from insects.
• Wash your hands before and after handling food. Do not use the same platter and utensils for raw and cooked meat and poultry.

Always follow the two-hour rule: Do not leave perishable food unrefrigerated for more than two hours.

Saving Leftovers

• Put perishable foods back in the cooler as soon as you finish eating. Do not leave them out while you go for a swim or a hike. Do not leave them out all afternoon to nibble on.
• If picnic leftovers have been sitting out for more than an hour and many people have handled them, throw them out.
• Cold foods kept in a cooler that still has ice may be safe. If the ice is melted, throw out the food. Cold water cannot keep foods cold enough to be safe.

Learn more about picnic food safety from our friends at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.