|
|
|
FEATURE SCRIPT – USDA Advice for a Safe Cookout Season
|
|
|
|
INTRODUCTION: The U.S. Department of Agriculture has some food safety
tips to help make your next cookout a success. USDA's Bob Ellison has more.
Bob Ellison , USDA (voice-over):
At a food safety education camp near the Nation's capital, kids are learning valuable lessons for the cookout season.
With warmer weather, they see harmful bacteria can grow more quickly on foods.
Child (looking though microscope): Ewww, gross!
Ellison (voice-over): But experts are on hand to help children and their families "Fight BAC" with four simple steps.
Four children (each says one): Clean! Separate! Cook!
Chill!
Richard Raymond, USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety: Trying to teach them food safety. How to prepare
food and how to handle food safely. What temperatures to cook certain types of food to, et cetera. And we hope they take
the messages home to their caregivers at home.
Ellison (voice-over): Step one is to keep hands,
utensils and surfaces clean. When you're cooking out, bring cleaning
items with you. Step two is separate: Use separate plates and cutting
boards, so juices from raw foods don't contaminate cooked foods. Step
three is cook to safe minimum internal temperatures: Burgers are 160
degrees; poultry is 165 degrees.
Dr. Raymond: There's no way to tell if meat has been properly cooked unless you use a thermometer to
check that internal temperature. You just cannot tell by looking.
Ellison (voice-over): Finally, keep foods chilled
in a cooler with ice or freezer gels. And make sure it's at 40 degrees
or below when transporting food or when storing leftovers.
Dr. Raymond: Anything that you're going to cook. Any raw meat that needs to be cooked, you should not
have that out of the refrigerator any longer than absolutely necessary or out of the cooler if you're on a barbecue or
something like that. Then once it is prepared you should never leave it out longer than two hours maximum and that
would be meat that's been cooked. If you don't know how long it has been out I'd throw it out.
Ellison (voice-over): Even super students like these
may need a recap. They can ask a food safety question online at AskKaren.gov,
or by calling the USDA's Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline.
For the U.S. Department of Agriculture, I'm Bob Ellison. |
Last Modified:
May 30, 2007 |
|
|
|
|
|
