Football Fans Reminded To Think Safety At Tailgate Parties

It's fall and one thing that season brings is. Yes, football and some terrific tailgate parties. Some folks never make it in to see the game at all.

"Sometimes the parking lot party is the party. It can be better than the event, yeah,” said Meredith Carruthers, food safety export with the USDA’s meat and poultry hotline.  She added those tailgate parties, while fun, have the potential to be dangerous.

She said, it all boils down to partiers not handling perishable foods like raw meat and poultry in a safe way that keeps any bacteria on or in that food from multiplying to dangerous levels. She says if you are a tailgater, cold is your friend, adding chances are there could be bacteria on or in ground beef patties, or chicken wings, really any perishable food. But she says when the food is kept below 40 degrees, what bacteria there is in there, is sleeping and dormant, not multiplying, so Carruthers notes we need to make sure that we have enough ice, enough coolers to keep raw meat and poultry and other perishable foods down below 40 degrees the whole time, from driving to the party, setting up everything to cooking that food.

“If that food gets brought above that temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and it sits there for a long time, you're giving that bacteria an opportunity to multiply, to reach potentially dangerous levels where they can produce heat resistant toxins that won't be killed by cooking later on. And that's a really big risk, and you can't make your food safe after that happens”

Carruthers added it's a good idea when we're packing up the raw meat and poultry to take it to the parking lot to put as much space as possible between the food that's going to be cooked and the other foods like salad that will be eaten raw. And we need to maintain that separation during the party.

“Keeping it totally separate from anything else that's cooked or ready to eat already,” Carruthers pointed out.  “So, take it onto a separate table, get it on a separate plate that will help keep it away from those other foods.”

Because, as she pointed out, just a few drops of meat juice on those ready to eat foods could be enough to put bacteria onto those foods and cause a problem. Join us next week as we continue to focus on Tailgate Party safety with Carruthers.

If you have questions about any food safety subject, you can reach out to the USDA Meat and Poultry hotline. The phone number is (888) MP Hotline (674-6854).  The hotline is staffed live from 7a-3p Pacific time.

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