Food safety experts reveal the biggest outdoor entertaining blunders and how to avoid them this summer
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NEED TO KNOW
- Experts warn against storing food and drinks in the same cooler to maintain safe temperatures for perishable items
- Using separate coolers for raw meats and ready-to-eat foods prevents cross-contamination and potential foodborne illnesses
- Checking ice levels often and using watertight containers can help avoid spoiled food during summer parties
No one wants a Fourth of July party ruined by guests falling ill from food poisoning.
It’s easy to make a mistake when storing food in coolers, especially when you’re busy with a variety of hosting duties. Someone leaves a pack of raw bratwurst on the grill under the blazing sun, your well-meaning relative moves food into the drink cooler to “help with space,” and suddenly, all the ice in every one of your coolers has turned to water, long before you notice. Each of these instances, along with other common cooler mistakes, can quickly lead to a food poisoning outbreak — a nightmare scenario for anyone hosting a party.
To save you from any food safety faux pas this Fourth of July, PEOPLE spoke to three experts about the biggest cooler mistakes everyone makes, and what you can do to avoid them. Read on for their insight and advice.
Storing drinks and food in the same cooler
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One of the most common cooler mistakes people make is storing food and drinks in the same cooler.
Lynne Just, head of the Hamilton Beach consumer test kitchen, tells PEOPLE, “When you’re at the beach, the pool or a party, you often open the cooler for drinks quite often. When food is stored in the same cooler, the food quickly gets out of the food safety zone.”
To help with temperature control, Just recommends always keeping food in a dedicated cooler and drinks in a separate cooler.
Not using enough ice to keep food in the temperature safety zone
Just shares that, similarly to opening coolers too often, not having enough ice or cold packs to keep food cold can be dangerous.
“Easily spoiled food needs to be kept at 40 degrees Fahrenheit,” Just says. “If they are outside of this temperature for more than two hours, they could spoil. If the temperature is 90-plus degrees outside, then this time frame is significantly shortened."
Dr. Brian Quoc Le, founder and CEO of Mendocino Food Consulting, shares similar advice. “Ice keeps the water temperature at a steady state near 4 degrees Celsius or 40 degrees Fahrenheit, well below where dangerous microorganisms can grow,” he explains. “When all of the ice has melted, that means that the water temperature will start to rise. Every five to 10 degrees, the speed at which microorganisms divide increases rapidly.”
His recommendation? “Be sure to check the ice levels of your cooler once every hour or every two hours, and make sure to replenish as soon as you start to see the ice levels drop.”
For an even more precise read on the internal temperature of your coolers, Just suggests investing in an instant-read thermometer. “On very hot days, my preferred way to ensure my cooler is at an optimal temperature is to stick an instant-read thermometer in the cooler,” she says. “I protect it in a zip-top bag and pull it out when I want to quickly check the temperature.”
Letting food sit in cold water instead of ice
While you might think it’s OK to let the food in your coolers sit in the cold water from melted ice, the water could compromise your food. Just explains, “Food can become soggy or waterlogged [if it isn’t stored in proper containers], and the water could potentially contaminate any food in the cooler.”
To avoid this type of food safety concern, store all food in watertight containers, periodically drain coolers so items aren’t swimming in water and replenish the ice as it melts.
Storing raw foods with ready-to-eat foods
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Putting all food, both raw and ready-to-eat, in a single cooler may seem like a space-saving hack, but it’s actually a breeding ground for bacteria. Just explains, “If juices from raw meats or seafood come in contact with cooked or prepared foods in the same cooler, they could contaminate the cooked or prepared foods.”
Jessica Randhawa, founder and head chef at The Forked Spoon, elaborated, sharing, “Packing raw burgers, chicken, sausages and the like next to salads, fruits or dessert can contaminate your ready-to-eat foods with bacteria. One leaky package can ruin a Fourth of July cookout by turning it into a food safety nightmare.”
She advises, “Instead, use a separate cooler for all raw meats.”
Dr. Quoc Le adds that you want to avoid cooked meat coming into contact with raw food as well. To ensure pathogens can’t breed among food items, he says, “You want to make sure even cooked meat isn't touching fresh fruits and vegetables in the cooler that are going to be eaten raw.”
Keeping leftover food that sat in a warming cooler
When the party is winding down and it's time to pack up leftovers, you may not think twice about keeping the remaining food. However, Randhawa advises more carefully considering what’s safe to keep for later consumption.
“If you are not sure how long something has been sitting in a warming cooler without a thermometer, it is probably not a good idea to rescue it,” she says. “This is especially true with mayonnaise-based salads, meats, cut fruits and dairy.”
Randhawa shares that the best practice is to err on the side of caution and follow the saying, “When in doubt, throw it out.”
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