By April Reese


University of Georgia

The choice of chicken, ribs, burgers or steaks isn’t the most
important preparation for your backyard cookout. Not the way
Judy
Harrison sees it.

“Put safety first,” says Harrison, a foods specialist with
the
University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences.
“Safe food handling is always important. But during the summer
grilling season, we need to be even more aware of food handling
practices.”

People cooking in the backyard or at a picnic site may not
always
be as good at hand-washing and personal hygiene as they are in
the kitchen, she said.

But keeping hands, dishes and utensils clean is critical when
grilling. Bacteria thrive on hot days, and this can lead to
food-borne illness.

Foodborne illness is no picnic

“Nothing can spoil summer fun like a case of food-borne
illness,”
Harrison said.

Symptoms can range from diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain
and
fever to long-term health problems such as arthritic conditions,
heart complications and central nervous system or kidney
disorders. Some cases can kill.

Anyone can get sick from the backyard grill or whenever food
is
mishandled, Harrison said. Infants, young children, pregnant
women and the elderly are especially susceptible to
complications
of food-borne illness. So are people whose immune systems are
weakened by AIDS, liver disease or cancer treatment.

“Fortunately, food-borne illness is preventable,” she
said. “You
just have to pay attention to food safety rules.”

Follow these steps

Steps for safe grilling

1. Start with clean hands, utensils, dishes and work
surfaces.
“If you’re grilling away from home, take some disposable hand
wipes along,” Harrison said.

2. Keep any meats refrigerated or in a cooler with ice until
the
grill is hot.

3. Marinate raw meat, fish and poultry in the refrigerator or
cooler, not on the counter.

4. Once you put it on the grill, cook meat and poultry
thoroughly. “Use a meat thermometer to know for sure when foods
are safely cooked,” she said.

Cook cuts of beef like roasts to an internal temperature of
at
least 145 degrees Fahrenheit for medium rare, 160 for medium and
170 for well done. “Be aware that meat cooked to 145 degrees
still carries some bacterial risk,” she said. Cook whole poultry
to 180 degrees.

Whatever you do, don’t undercook hamburgers. “To be sure you
destroy bacteria, cook meat patties to at least 160 degrees and
ground poultry to 165 degrees,” Harrison said.

Some outdoor chefs like to speed grilling time by partially
precooking meat or poultry. That’s OK if the food goes right
from
the microwave or range to the grill, she said. But interrupted
cooking is risky business.

Handling leftovers

When it’s done, never put grilled food back on the dish it
came
from. “If you put meat or poultry back onto plates with raw
juices,” she said, “you can put bacteria right back on the foods
you just cooked.”

Grilled food never tastes better than when it’s hot, right
off
the grill. It’s never safer, either.

“As with any food, don’t eat grilled foods that have been
left at
room temperature for more than two hours,” Harrison said. “If
the
food is outside on a hot day (85 or warmer), one hour is a safer
rule.

“If foods have sat outside on buffet tables with lots of
chances
for contamination to occur,” she said, “it’s best to throw
leftovers away.”

Safe grilling tips

To make sure your outdoor grilling project is safe, follow
these
tips:

* Be careful lighting the fire. Never use gasoline, fuel oil
or
kerosene. (They’re dangerous, and their smoke leaves an oily
aftertaste on the food.)

* Keep clothes close. Roll up shirt sleeves, tuck shirts in
and
avoid wearing loose, flowing skirts or scarves. Keep long hair
restricted, too.

* Use long-handled utensils and potholders. Keep cookware
handles
turned to one side away from the heat. Keep a water spray bottle
or hose close by.

* Be sure the fire is completely out before you leave it.

(April Reese is a writer with the University of Georgia
College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)