Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen and Health Department officials held an event Thursday to demonstrate safe food handling tips.
The demonstration was held at the Sun Dial Pavilion in Druid Hill Park.
The event comes as Baltimore residents prepare for the July 4th Holiday.
Officials suggested using the following food safety tips when cooking for outdoor events:
- Transport uncooked meats separately from other foods in tightly sealed bags or containers in a cooler with plenty of ice;
- Place coolers in the coolest part of your car instead of the trunk;
- Clean your hands before preparing or touching food;
- If running water is not available, use disposable wet wipes or hand sanitizer;
- Make sure the surface you are using is clean. Inexpensive plastic tablecloths can be very useful for this;
- Don’t use the same plate and utensils for cooked food that were used for the raw food;
- Cook meat and poultry to a safe temperature as measured with a food thermometer. Just because it looks done on the outside doesn’t mean it is done on the inside;
- Keep mayonnaise based salads on ice while out on the picnic table, this will help keep the salads cold and extend their time out for display;
- Keep hot food hot and cold food cold. Use sternos to keep food hot and ice to keep foods cold;
- After four hours, all uneaten, perishable food should be thrown away;
- In hot weather, above 90F, don’t allow food to sit out of the cooler for over an hour. When in doubt, throw it out!
