Before deciding what to take on your picnic, there are several things that we need to consider. The first thing is the desire to enjoy our outing without feeling its potential intestinal wrath later because of some miscue in our food safety precautions, by creating the growth of bacteria and causing potentially unsafe food.

 

Let’s start with the little things first like washing our hands or at least using hand antiseptic and you do know that the 3, 5, or 10 second rule doesn’t work? When food hits the ground, it collects bacteria upon impact. Yes, bacteria are everywhere and they multiply every 10 to 20 minutes times 2, but they do not have to ruin your picnic. The old adage, when in doubt, toss it out? Well, that goes into effect when food falls on the ground, the picnic table or the food has been left out of proper temperature too long. In other words, be smart with your food, use proper precautions and watch the temperature of the food, and did I mention washing your hands?

 

When food is sitting out in the sun or even just out of refrigeration, you must still keep it cool, 41° degrees Fahrenheit or below and if the food is supposed to be kept hot, like those charred hamburgers or blackened hot dogs, chicken and baked beans, they must be held at 135°, the correct temperature for Hot Holding after coming off the grill. Remember to bring a meat thermometer and use it. Cook Hamburger to 155° and Chicken to 165°, Sausage or other meat stuffed foods to 165° degrees.

 

Some other good ideas while we are thinking about food safety. Keep your cold temperatures below 41°degrees and hot food, hot, above 135° and if the food was left out of temperature for any period of time, like a couple of hours, “when in doubt, throw it out.” If the food falls on the ground, throw it out, licked by the dog, throw it out, you get the picture. If watermelon has been sliced, it becomes dangerous after sitting out only for a couple of hours unrefrigerated, so don’t leave the food out, at room temperature. Keep it cold. Any potentially hazardous food, which is food with very high moisture content, should be kept refrigerated or cooled below 41° while at the picnic or anytime.

 

Wash your fruit and vegetables before preparing them in cool water or use a type of veggie wash, then rinse it again before using it. The best thing is to prepare the fruit or vegetables at home, chill them down in the refrigerator, baggie them in zip lock or air tight containers keeping them cold and contamination free, place them in an iced down cooler and separated from the raw meat in the cooler or bring raw meat items in a separate cooler to prevent cross contamination. Never allow cross contamination to occur between raw meat and fruit or vegetables.

 

Do not use the knife you just used to cut the raw meat or chicken, to slice tomatoes, chop the lettuce or cut the melon into squares. Always use different knifes and cutting boards while preparing different foods. Bring or use a covered trash can and be sure to keep the trash away from the food prep or serving area keeping it covered at all times as flies and other insects carry disease.

 

After the picnic is over and you have some good food left over, quickly cool it down to 41° or below and take it home. It is best to eat your leftovers within two days. The Maximum shelf life of opened items in the refrigerator is 7 days at 41°, or 4 days at 45° degrees and if keeping left over food from a restaurant (doggie bags), 4 days tops, but the best case scenario is 2 days at 41° or below and never freeze leftover food that may have been out of temperature for too long or over 2 hours. Just refrigerate it and reuse it quickly. If food has been already reheated once, never refreeze the food a second time. Freezing does not kill the bacteria, so be sure if it is hot food to reheat the food before eating it again to 165° degrees Fahrenheit.

 

Until next time, remember, it is not the mayonnaise …