Food Safe Shopping Tips:

Leaving food in the car too long is a recipe for food-borne illness in the summertime. Stick to these strategies and keep your food safe!

  • Put a cooler and some ice packs in the trunk of your car when you go grocery shopping on those really hot days.
  • When doing errands, make the grocery store your last stop.
  • When you’re in the grocery store, pick up frozen and refrigerated food just before you hit the check stand.
  • If you’re going to the farmers market, take a cooler along too. Don’t store fresh produce in the trunk of your car.

Summer Food Safety:

The temperature is creeping up outside, and this nice weather means that lots of people will want to have outdoor barbecues, picnics and pot lucks. These can be a total blast, but extra food safety concerns accompany these rising temperatures. Here’s what you can do to combat food-borne illness this summer…

  • Remember the “2 hour rule” changes to the “1 hour rule” when temperatures creep up above 90 degrees F.
  • This means that you should not allow food to sit out at room temperature for longer than one hour.
  • Keep hot food hot and cold food cold.
  • Hot temperatures are just right for allowing the bacteria to multiply to numbers that could make people sick. This includes food on picnic tables, buffet lines at family reunions and bag lunches.
  • Don’t take home questionable leftovers, throw them away.