{"id":8847,"date":"2015-07-01T10:22:52","date_gmt":"2015-07-01T17:22:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/?p=8847"},"modified":"2015-07-01T10:22:52","modified_gmt":"2015-07-01T17:22:52","slug":"grill-pro-food-safety-tips-usda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/07\/01\/grill-pro-food-safety-tips-usda\/","title":{"rendered":"Grill like a pro! Food safety tips from the USDA"},"content":{"rendered":"
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July 4 is right around the corner and for the estimated 80% of households that own grills or smokers, that means one thing \u2013 barbeques.\u00a0 Grill masters can make sure they don\u2019t leave their diners with a nasty case of food poisoning by following USDA\u2019s Food Safety and Inspection Service food safety tips.<\/p>\n

Annually the CDC estimates that 48 million Americans (at least 1 in 6) get sick from food poisoning year, resulting in roughly 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths.\u00a0 Foodborne illness is more frequent during the warm summer months for two reasons:\u00a0 1) harmful bacteria multiply faster in warmer temperatures, and 2) more people are cooking and bringing food outside away from refrigerators, thermometers, and washing facilities of a kitchen.<\/p>\n

If you can remember four safe food handling steps\u2014Clean, Separate, Cook, and Chill\u2014you can help protect your family and guests from getting sick, whether you\u2019re outside at the grill, away from home, or in your own kitchen.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b>One of the most common mistakes is thinking that meat has been cooked enough by looking at its color.\u00a0 The color of your burger, whether it\u2019s brown or pink, does not indicate that it\u2019s safely cooked. One in four burgers turns brown before it has reached the safe internal temperature of 160\u00b0F (according to USDA Food Thermometer Fact Sheet<\/a>).\u00a0 Using a food thermometer is the only way<\/b> to tell if your burger has reached a safe internal temperature.<\/p>\n

Some people also falsely believe that the quality of your meat\u2014specifically whether it is organic or grass-fed– may mean that it does not need to be cooked as much to be safe to eat. Don\u2019t let this fool you.\u00a0 Whole cuts of beef, pork and lamb should be cooked to 145 \u02daF and allowed to rest for 3 minutes before eating.\u00a0 All ground beef, pork and lamb burgers should be cooked to 160 \u00b0F before being eating. \u00a0All poultry (ground and whole cuts) should be cooked to 165 \u00b0F before being eating.<\/p>\n

There is no better time than the present to adopt the four safe food handling steps to greatly reduce your risk of foodborne illness:<\/p>\n