The season of summer outdoor picnics is well underway. Vermilion County Health Department Environmental Health Director Jana Messmore recently appeared on 1490 WDAN’s Community Connection with Laura Williams; and she mentioned that both the main meal and dessert for picnic outings can cause some trouble if precautions are not taken. Messmore says the main rule should be always keep food at the proper temperature, and do not just leave it out and ignore it for a few hours.
AUDIO: Your potato salad, macaroni salad, any type of salad like that; you want to make sure that you’re holding it at 41 degrees or below. And if it is going to sit out on the picnic table, just throw it away after about four hours. We usually recommend pre-chilling the ingredients as well.
On the “dessert food” side, just one area that can cause trouble is melons after they are cut.
AUDIO: Cut melons are a potentially hazardous food item. So after you cut into those melons, they should be held at 41 degrees or below as well. So you don’t want to cut up a water melon, and just leave it out on the picnic table all day either.
Messmore says a major reason for that is melons might have some bacteria on the outside, which can get into the insides after cutting.
And on the topic of leftovers, such as if somebody is giving you some extra brats to take home; common sense is needed there as well. Make sure they are chilled at 41 degrees or below on the way home, and then reheated to 165 degrees before eating later.
More information is at the Vermilion County Health Department website, www.vchd.org.
To hear all of Laura Williams’ interview with Jana Messmore, please go to https://vermilioncountyfirst.com/the-community-connection/
