The weather is turning warm and the summer months are fast approaching. If your family is like mine, this is the time of year for outdoor outings like camping, fishing, playing at the park and other recreational activities. These activities often involve food and it is important to remember food safety during these warm summer months to prevent food borne illness.
The first step to food safety for outdoor activities is to plan ahead. Take some time to decide what you are going to eat and how you are going to cook it. These steps can help you determine what types of equipment you will need. You should also consider what you will have access to during your stay outdoors. Will you have water that is safe for drinking? Can you build a fire, use a grill, or use some type of portable stove to prepare foods?
Depending on your planned activities and access to equipment, you might consider packing foods that do not require refrigeration such as peanut butter, crackers, juice boxes, canned meats, dried noodles and soups, beef jerky, dried fruits, nuts, or other dehydrated foods.
If you do plan to take along perishable foods, follow these suggestions to keep foods safe:
– Place perishable foods in a cooler with plenty of ice. You may even consider placing a refrigerator thermometer in a plastic bag in the cooler. Make sure the cooler temperature remains at 40 degrees or less.
– Try packing meat and poultry while it is still frozen to maintain the temperature. Also, full coolers will stay colder longer than one that is partially full.
– When packing raw meats, keep these items separate from other ready to eat foods such as fruits and vegetables in the cooler.
– Consider taking along two coolers – one for perishable foods which should only be opened when foods need to be prepared and another for drinks which will be opened more frequently.
In hot summer weather, it is also important to remember that foods should not sit out for long periods of time. Generally speaking, you should discard any food left out more than two hours. However, if temperatures are greater than 90 degrees, food should not sit out any longer than one hour.
Finally, the most important food safety tip for outdoor fun is to wash your hands. Hand washing is crucial to the prevention of food borne illness. It is best to wash your hands with warm, soapy water for 20 seconds. However, in most cases warm water is not available and often times no water is available. In this case, use a disposable towelette to wipe hands clean or keep a bottle of hand sanitizing solution with you. Hand sanitizer will not eliminate any dirt or grime that may be present, but it will help reduce germs on your hands. Something is better than nothing!!
Educational programs of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age or national origin. The Texas A&M University System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners’ Courts of Texas Cooperating
