Transcription:
Summertime Food Safety Tips

Melanie Cole (Host): So many families love to get together in the summer and cook out and grill and hang around; but if you are not careful, these celebrations of summer fun and sun, can end up making everyone sick. You do not want to the person that is providing the food and everybody ends up in the hospital. My guest today is Maria McIntosh. She’s a Registered Dietician and the Manager of Clinical Nutrition at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. Maria, what is the first thing you want us to know about those outside parties that we are having and food safety and how to not make everybody sick to their stomachs?

Maria McIntosh, Registered Dietician and Certified Diabetes Educator (Guest): Well thank you Melanie. That’s the last thing that we want to happen and one thing that I know sounds very cliché but one of the first and best things that we can do is to wash our hands. Even before we handle any food items at all. The problem is, we kind of take that for granted. We don’t always wash our hands or at least wash them properly.

Host: So, we should be washing our hands when, at the beginning, all the way through? I mean do we do it just all day long as we are doing all this cooking?

Maria: It really is an all day long process, but certainly before handling any raw foods it is very important for us to wash our hands. It really will help avoid us getting sick and to avoid spreading germs so that other people get sick. So, definitely handling hamburger or handling any of your raw meats that you plan on grilling. You definitely want to wash your hands. Soaping them up and lathering for about 20 seconds before you rinse. A lot of us, you know I see it at home, my husband he’ll just like rinse his hands under the faucet and just go on with the day. But that’s not going to do it. It’s the scrubbing and the rubbing, the friction that gets rid of the germs.

Host: My husband is like that too. And it’s really annoying and frustrating. So, let’s talk about what needs to be kept cold as somebody Maria, who uses paper plates, if I’m ever grilling, so that I can just chuck them out and chuck them out. I don’t even want to cut vegetables on boards and stuff outside. What needs to be kept cold? What should we be doing as far as cross contamination?

Maria: Yes. So, for cross contamination keeping coolers nearby, keeping those foods separate so for example, if you have raw meats; have one cooler that’s designated specifically for those and then have other coolers for beverages, have other coolers for items that perhaps are already cooked or are staying raw like perhaps some vegetables. That’s very important to do.

And you mentioned cutting boards. Another very important thing is to not mix up the cutting boards. Don’t be cutting raw chicken or dealing with red meats or other meat products on one board with one knife and then cutting up a salad immediately after that. Something that’s going to be uncooked because that is a sure fire way to spread unwanted germs.

So, we want to keep those separate also. The other thing is that when we are holding the food, so after we’ve cooked it; we want to make sure that we are holding it at a temperature that’s safe for us. And I actually read something very interesting that I wasn’t even aware of. I’ve always learned you keep foots out for no longer than two hours and then you need to refrigerate, freeze or toss, whichever you are going to do. But I read that if it’s 90 degrees or greater; these foods should only stay out for one hour before you do that. So, I think batch cooking, not maybe cooking too many things at the grill and just leaving there for hours at a time would be a very important thing to consider when safe barbecuing.

Host: And we’re going to talk about obviously cole slaw and potato salad and mayonnaise products and you’ve talked about meats and things. But what about regular green salad? I get worried about E coli and all these things now with the various lettuces and spinach and stuff. Can salads and raw vegetables sit out. I mean they sit out in my garden. Can they sit out in a bowl?

Maria: They do sit out in your garden but remember, you are washing them before you eat them anyway and they’re not going to be exposed to nearly as many things as some of these mass produced items are. So, as far as salads, I would follow that same general rule of not keeping things out for very long. If you don’t have a lot of access to refrigeration, then coolers and ice is very important. And really that general rule of no more than two hours at a time.

And one thing that I do even if they are precut, like precut salad mixes and such; I like to rinse them off also because to me they have like an off taste to them a little bit, but I find that I just feel a little bit better if they are more rinsed off and maybe they are less problematic that way.

Host: Okay so on to dairy products. Our cole slaw and our potato salad. I mean you say the hour, or the two hours based on the temperature and those sorts of things. I don’t even tend to like to leave those things out really at all. Should we be putting them in bowls of ice? Is there a certain temperature they really need to be kept at?

Maria: Yeah, these foods need to be kept below 40 degrees. And so, ice I think mandatory. You definitely want – if you are going to keep them out for any amount of time. But I agree with you, if I can keep those things perhaps inside, close to the fridge, putting them out in smaller serving sizes so that you just pull out more as you need it. That would really be the safest thing for those kinds of foods.

But 40 or below is the standard temperature to keep them at.

Host: That’s good information. What about things like vinegar, citrus; can that help to keep things from spoiling or even like fish; you know you put it on there a little bit before you cook, maybe some lemon juice. Is there any truth to that, that it can help to keep things from getting those bacteria?

Maria: It can help to a degree, but it doesn’t eliminate the need for those safer handling tips. Which would be to wash your hands, not cross contaminating, using the same utensils, plates, chopping boards etc. So, I mean they can be helpful, however that don’t eliminate the need to do all those other good things that keep the foods healthy for us.

Host: Wow, you know that’s really good to know and people I think don’t realize some of these things. So, tell us what you would like us to know about grilling, meats, fishes. You know some people Maria, they make kabobs, they put the meat and the vegetables on the same kabob. Well they don’t cook at the same amount of time. So, I always like to keep them separate. But what do you tell people abut that?

Maria: Yeah, well it really depends on how much you want those vegetables to be cooked. It’s okay if the meat is thoroughly cooked but if your vegetables are slightly raw or slightly maybe crunchy tender; that would be okay. The most important thing would be that the meat itself is thoroughly cooked. And having a digital thermometer and testing the internal temperature of these meats is very important. We want for any like whole beef, or even pork; we want that to be at least 145 degrees internal temperature. For anything ground like hamburger; we want it to be 160 degrees or greater. And then chicken is the highest at 165.

Host: I’m going to keep a temperature thermometer next time I grill. I’ve never done that and what a great idea. Because then you really know that you’re safe and I mean it’s one thing to cook inside but when you’re outside; that’s a whole different deal. So, wrap it up for us. What else would you like us to know. I mean obviously, we want to try and keep the flies off our food and ants and things like that. So, what do you want us to know when the temperatures get so hot in the summer and we’re having fun and grilling?

Maria: Well, one thing that is something that I’ve learned from experience is really doing your work ahead of time and checking out your grill. Is that safe? I mean you certainly don’t want any fires. You don’t want anyone to get hurt. So, always clean out the grill. I can remember one time I was making a very large batch of chicken wings and walked out to see the whole grill in flames because it hadn’t been cleaned and there was just a lot of grease residue. So, be prepared for that.

First thing is clean your grill at the start of the season and periodically throughout the season. Keep a fire extinguisher. Keep baking soda for those grease fires. Keep grills away from tripping areas or some low lying branches. I heard that about 20% of house fires actually start from barbecues, from the lawn or from your porch area.

So, even from the very beginning before we start working with the food; it’s important to make sure that the whole grilling area is very safe for all of your guests. Remember you are going to have children, possibly older individuals who could trip easily. So, you want to keep that area as safe as possible.

Host: And pets too. I’ve caught our dog licking the propane tank, a lot as the meat juices drip down. It’s like so you really want to keep the pets away too. Maria, thank you so much. It’s great information and we’re going to have a great summer and fun time grilling as long as we take these safety precautions to make sure that it is fun and that there are no tragedies, nobody wants that. Thank you again for joining us.

Maria: Absolutely.

Host: And thank you so much for listening to this episode of It’s Your Health Radio. Head on over to the website at www.henrymayo.com for more information and to get connected with one of our providers. If you found this podcast informative, please share on your social media and be sure to check out all the other interesting podcasts in our library. I’m Melanie Cole.