Food Safety

Under the hot summer sun, food should not be left out for more than one hour. To keep food cold and safe:

• Pack food in coolers with plenty of ice
• On your serving table, keep platters and bowls of salads nestled in ice. Use large shallow bowls or trays or small inflatable swimming pools to hold ice and nestle your platters or serving bowls on top
• Replenish every hour. Only put out what you think will be served in an hour.
• Discard foods left out longer and replenish with fresh food

Burgers need to be cooked thoroughly to kill harmful bacteria. The best way to know if meat is cooked thoroughly is to use a meat thermometer and check that it's the proper temperature.

• Color is not an indicator of doneness. Ground beef can still be pink inside and cooked to a safe 160 degrees F.
• Use an instant-read thermometer to check the internal temperature toward the end of the cooking time, but before the food is expected to be "done."
• The food thermometer should be placed in the thickest par of the food and should not be touching bone, fat, or gristle. For burgers, slide the thermometer in sideways.
• Cook ground beef, ground pork or ground bison burgers to at least 160 degrees F. and ground turkey or chicken burgers to 165 degrees F.

For more information on cooking foods to proper temperatures, visit these links:>

• Safe Temp Chart
• Types of Food Thermometers
• Ground Beef and Food Safety