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Dr. Kim Mulvihill ReportingFood borne bacteria cause an estimated 76 million illnesses and 5,000 deaths each year; the vast majority occur in the home.
Who doesn't like a barbeque, especially on the fourth of July? But if you don't watch out, uninvited guests can crash your picnic and endanger the lives of your family and friends.
These guests include salmonella, staphylococcus, camplyobacter, listeria, even e-coli – food borne bacteria that can make you sick, and in some cases kill you.
Dr. Linda Harris is a food safety specialist and microbiologist at U.C. Davis. Today she helped identify some common mistakes made with foods.
A big one? Contaminating your fresh fruits and veggies with pathogens found in raw meat or poultry juices.
Dr. Harris: “You have to keep things clean, cutting boards. You have to be careful about the knives you use or any other utensils that you use, especially if you're handling raw meat and poultry at the same time. You want to avoid cross contaminating the two products.
And cross-contamination and food poisoning can occur in the least obvious place.
Dr. Harris: “Raw meat was stored above lettuce in the refrigerator and the drips from the meat got on to the lettuce. It wasn't properly washed. Afterwards and there was an outbreak as a result.”
Outbreaks of food poisonings can occur in a variety of ways. For example, when you slice thru melon, the knife drags germs from outside of the rind, through the flesh of the fruit. Melons are full of sugar, just what germs love to eat. Once at room temperature or in the sun, germs feast on the sugar and multiply like crazy. So wash melons before you cut them.
Or potato salad -- it's not the mayonnaise that goes bad. In making the salad, with all that chopping, your hands are over everything. If you're not careful with hygiene, you can easily transfer the germs to the potatoes. And once out in the sun, the bacteria can feast and grow exponentially.
Here are some other tips to make your summer bbq's healthy:
--Store all perishables in a cooler with ice or freeze paks until serving time.
--Use a thermos designed for hot foods to keep stews, soups or chili at a safe high temperature.
--Always wash your hands before touching or preparing food.
--If soap and hot water are unavailable, take along hand-wipes or a hand sanitizer.
--And refrigerate all leftovers within two hours if the outdoor temperature is below 90; within one hour if the weather is hotter.
