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Smart Summer Eating Guide: How to Keep Your Meals Safe During the Year’s Hottest Season

Summer time is in full swing! At Good Food Made Simple, we love a nice picnic or barbecue. I mean, what’s not to appreciate about a warm, sunshiney forecast and some of the “coolest” foods out there? But as the weather gets warmer, there are more risks that come with outdoor eating and food prep. Leaving food out for too long at room temperature, for example, can cause all different kinds of harmful bacteria to grow.

As people who truly value eating, take from us these tips for how to eat safely during the summer season.

1.    Keep Your Food Out of the “Danger Zone”

• Keep hot food hot – at or above 140 °F
• Keep cold food cold – at or below 40 °F
• Never leave food out of refrigeration for over 2 hours
• If the temperature is above 90 °F, food should not be left out for more than 1 hour

2.    Keep Cooking Safe

•  Raw meat and poultry should always be cooked to a safe minimum internal temperature. (Check out the helpful thermostat illustration below for details!)
• When roasting meat and poultry, use an oven temperature no lower than 325°F
• If you aren’t serving hot food right away, keep it at 140 °F or above

3.    Storing Leftovers

• Since bacteria can be reintroduced to food even AFTER it is safely cooked, leftovers must be kept in shallow containers for quick cooling and kept refrigerated at 40 °F or below within 2 hours

4.    Reheating for Re-eating

• When you get those cravings for some delicious leftovers, you should reheat the food thoroughly to an internal temperature of 165 °F or until it is steaming hot.
• If you are using the microwave to reheat the food, cover the dish and rotate so it heats evenly 

 

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