How to Avoid the Summer Food Blues

Ah summer! The food possibilities are endless with cookouts, picnics and barbecues galore! Family gatherings, reunions, weddings and workplace potlucks will give your appetite and your immune system a run for its money!

If you would like to avoid spending quality time worshiping the porcelain throne or even the hospital emergency room there are numerous food handling suggestions you may want to follow whether you are partaking or preparing food. And yes most of these are common sense, but then again that seems to be in short supply sometimes.

• Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds- - with soap & water, before and after handling food of any kind
• Do not allow bacteria-infested juices from raw meat to come into contact with other foods
• Do not leave perishable foods out of refrigeration for longer than 1 hour in 90 degree or above temperatures (In other words don't buy groceries before you take the kids out to Wild Water West for the day)
• Make sure the fridge & freezer doors are closed
• Use different cutting boards and utensils for raw & cooked products
• Follow cooking directions, different meats require different cooking times, when in doubt checking packaging, a cookbook, or recipe
• Do not leave cooked food out of the fridge or freezer for too long. Two hours is the recommended maximum amount of time you have before those stomach-churning bacteria move in for the kill!

For even more food safety tips click here.