Remembering food safety in the summer heat

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - It’s hot outside, but that doesn’t stop people from lighting up the grill. There are some food safety guidelines people should follow before they lay out buffet spreads.

At Butcher Block Meats, the afternoon rush is coming in to get their favorite items, but there are some meat safety guidelines to remember.

“Well I mean just to make sure you’re prepping your meat- you know, especially raw especially chicken fork on or clean surfaces you know you’re not mixing different meats together. And then basically as far as having a clean grill prep surface and just making sure you’re checking your temps’ meat thermometer, you know and different minimum temps for every meat,” said Braeden Kraft, general manager at Butcher Block Meats.

When grilling your favorite meats there are certain temperatures that always should be met.

“Couple numbers to go by there are good numbers to remember would be for ground beef. 155 degrees Fahrenheit for brown beef and any poultry would be 165 degrees. Fahrenheit,” said Environmental Health Administrator Anton Sattler.

Some practices that are necessary while cooking become even more important in the summer.

“One of the first things I’d point out as hand washing hand washing is always critical at any time, but especially during the summertime, you know you’re out and about, you may be touching things that are outdoors and you’re going to work with food, you’ll always want to wash your hands,” said Sattler.

After the barbecues and celebrations are finished it’s important to refrigerate or throw them ideally within 30 minutes.

“At elevated temperatures with the summer and the foodborne illness, bacteria often grow faster at higher temperatures. So anything above 70 degrees Fahrenheit, especially when you get up to 90 degrees, they’re gonna be able to reproduce that that much quicker,” said Sattler.

With the higher elevated temperatures, it’s also important everyone remembers to properly hydrate.

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