Summertime
spent outside can be a dangerous place for food, but some summertime food fears
are simply unfounded.
Diane
Van with the U-S Department of Agriculture helped bust some food safety myths.
The
most common myth is mayonnaise-based salads left unrefrigerated can make you
sick.
"Mayo
is not the problem... they are acidified and pasteurized. It's the food you put
them on that support bacterial growth," said Van.
Treat
mayonnaise salads like you would any other food refrigerating after two hours,
one hour if it is hot weather.
If you
want more time put your picnic foods on ice.
Food
safety myth number two is never cook directly on public grills.
"Well
that's not true. As long as you clean before you use it there's no reason why
you can't use a public grill or your home grill if it's dirty. The best way is
to heat the charcoal or the gas up and make sure it gets to about 500 degrees
and that will burn any dirt or soil off the grill and then you take and then
you can take a brush or some foil and you can just clean your grill," said
Van.
Another
myth, you should wash meat and poultry before cooking.
False.
In fact, bacteria in raw meat and poultry juices can splash and spread to other
foods, utensils and surfaces if you rinse before cooking.
Next
myth is grilled foods increase your risk for cancer.
"Grilled
foods are safe in moderation and certainly you want to avoid charring on any of
the meat according to the National Cancer Institute," said Van.
You can
prevent charring by cutting the fat off your raw meat and poultry before
grilling.
Use
direct heat when grilling, and see if the food does char..cut it off before
eating.
If you
feel the need to put away hot leftovers, here's the myth- you should never put
hot food in the refrigerator.
"That's
not true... it's more dangerous to forget and leave it out longer than 2
hours... so put it in shallow containers and get it into the refrigerator as
quickly as possible," said Van.
Forget
about the myths and keep food safety facts in mind during the summer, it will
keep you and your family safe.
