Memorial Day grilling tips for a safe and healthy holiday

Happy Memorial Day weekend!  

For children this signifies ending of school year, beginning of summer and for us adults, a three day weekend! And time for a family barbecue.  

Whether you are going to your backyard, a park, camping or the beach, many of us will be uncovering our grill for this weekend.

Here are tips to prevent food poisoning*:

• Don't leave home without dishrag and dish soap to clean dirty hands, utensils and surfaces.
• Pack 2 cutting boards in your bag so you can chop raw food separate from cooked foods.  Raw food has juices that can easily contaminate cooked foods. 
• Don't forget your handy grill thermometer.  You can get an inexpensive digital thermometer that will tell you in a second the temperature of your foods.
• You might think this is overkill, but bring a thermometer that will just sit in the ice chest.  This way you can be sure that the cooler is kept at the magical number of 40 degrees or less. 
• Bacteria flourish in hot weather.  So don’t let food sit out for more than one hour. Chef Solus says this mantra “When in doubt, throw it out” 
• Hamburgers need to be cooked to 160 F, while chicken should reach 165 F internally.

Nourish Thought for the Day:  

Hot weather helps bacteria grow faster. Take the extra step to follow good food safety practices and keep everyone's tummy safe from bacteria.