4th of July BBQ? Stay Healthy
The 4th of July usually means celebrations with family and friends and along with the fireworks is the big BBQ.
Marianne Gravely with the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service Meat and Poultry Hotline. She says there is a list of common mistakes we make that could end up making Independence Day a real bummer
"The biggest mistake might be cross contamination which would be if you are carrying a plate of raw chicken or raw hamburgers to grill, then you cook whatever it is you're cooking then if you were to put that back on the same plate that held the raw food you could contaminate the cooked food with the bacteria from the raw food. So always have separate plates."
Gravely says another no no is leaving food out too long.
She says keep salads like coleslaw and potato salad on ice. Even if a food was sterile when you made it or bought it can still get contaminated by just being out in the air or from people's touch.
She says always use a meat thermometer to check to see if the burgers , steaks or pork chops are cooked all the way through.
