Always wash your hands! Use warm soapy water before handling food, or in a pinch, use waterless alcohol hand gel when soap and water are not available.
Do not Cross Contaminate! Cross contamination can occur during preparation, grilling, or serving of food, and it causes food borne illness. Remember to separate foods during preparation. Place cooked foods on a clean plate, and not the plate on which it was carried to the grill.
Always wash the outside of the produce! Wash the surface of melons thoroughly under clean, running water before eating them. This is because bacteria present in the soil can contaminate the skin of the melon. When the melon is cut, these bacteria are transferred to the part we eat and can grow to levels that cause food borne illness.
Refrigerate! Holding food at an unsafe temperature is a prime cause of food borne illness. Food left out of refrigeration for more than 2 hours may not be safe to eat. The hotter the weather, the sooner leftovers need to be refrigerated.
Pack what is easy to keep safe in warm conditions! Rather than worry about keeping hot foods hot and cold foods cold, limit the number of perishable foods on your menu, especially if you’ll be at a picnic site for several hours.
Know your environment! Environmental sources other than contaminated food can also cause serious gastrointestinal infections. Drinking contaminated water on a hike, at the lake or swimming in contaminated pools or shallow lakes can cause infections. Failure to wash hands after working or playing with farm animals, or surfaces contaminated by animals, can also cause serious gastrointestinal infections. For more information about food safety and prevention of gastrointestinal illness, visit www.co.whatcom.wa.us or www.doh.wa.gov