Perfect Cooking Articles

10 Wide Open Tips For Food Safety In The Great Outdoors

Hiking, camping, and boating are good activities for active

people and families. However, if the food isn't handled

correctly, food-borne illness can be an unwelcome souvenir.

1. Choose foods that are light enough to carry in a backpack

and that can be transported safely. Keep foods either hot or

cold. Since it's difficult to keep foods hot without a heat

source, it's best to transport chilled foods. Refrigerate or

freeze the food overnight. What foods to bring? For a day

hike, just about anything will do as long as you can fit it

in your backpack and keep it cold -- sandwiches, fried

chicken, bread and cheese, and even salads -- or choose non-

perishable foods.

2. Keep everything clean. Remember to bring disposable wipes

if you're taking a day trip. (Water is too heavy to bring

enough for cleaning dishes!)

3. It's not a good idea to depend on fresh water from a

lake or stream for drinking, no matter how clean it appears.

Some pathogens thrive in remote mountain lakes or streams

and there's no way to know what might have fallen into the

water upstream. Bring bottled or tap water for drinking.

Always start out with a full water bottle and replenish your

supply from tested public systems when possible. On long

trips you can find water in streams, lakes, and springs, but

be sure to purify any water from the wild, no matter how

clean it appears.

4. If you're backpacking for more than a day, the food

situation gets a little more complicated. You can still

bring cold foods for the first day, but you'll have to pack

shelf-stable items for the next day. Canned goods are safe,

but heavy, so plan your menu carefully. Advances in food

technology have produced relatively lightweight staples that

don't need refrigeration or careful packaging. For example:

• peanut butter in plastic jars
• concentrated juice boxes
• canned tuna, ham, chicken, and beef
• dried noodles and soups
• beef jerky and other dried meats
• dehydrated foods
• dried fruits and nuts
• powdered milk and fruit drinks

5. If you're cooking meat or poultry on a portable stove or

over a fire, you'll need a way to determine when it's done

and safe to eat. Color is not a reliable indicator of

doneness, and it can be especially tricky to tell the color

of a food if you're cooking in a wooded area in the evening.

It's critical to use a food thermometer when cooking

hamburgers. Ground beef may be contaminated with E. coli, a

particularly dangerous strain of bacteria. Illnesses have

occurred even when ground beef patties were cooked until

there was no visible pink. The only way to insure that

ground beef patties are safely cooked is to use a food

thermometer, and cook the patty until it reaches 160° F. Be

sure to clean the thermometer between uses.

6. To keep foods cold, you'll need a cold source. A block of

ice keeps longer than ice cubes. Before leaving home, freeze

clean, empty milk cartons filled with water to make blocks

of ice, or use frozen gel-packs. Fill the cooler with cold

or frozen foods. Pack foods in reverse order. First foods

packed should be the last foods used. (There is one

exception: pack raw meat or poultry below ready-to-eat foods

to prevent raw meat or poultry juices from dripping on the

other foods.)

7. Camping supply stores sell biodegradable camping soap in

liquid and solid forms. But use it sparingly, and keep it

out of rivers, lakes, streams, and springs, as it will

pollute. If you use soap to clean your pots, wash the pots

at the campsite, not at the water's edge. Dump dirty water

on dry ground, well away from fresh water. Some wilderness

campers use baking soda to wash their utensils. Pack

disposable wipes for hands and quick cleanups.

8. If you're planning to fish, check with your fish and game

agency or state health department to see where you can fish

safely, then follow these guidelines for Finfish:

• Scale, gut, and clean fish as soon as they're caught
• Live fish can be kept on stringers or in live wells, as
• long as they have enough water and enough room to move and
• breathe
• Wrap fish, both whole and cleaned, in water-tight
• plastic and store on ice
• Keep 3 to 4 inches of ice on the bottom of the cooler.

• Alternate layers of fish and ice

• Store cooler out of the sun and cover with a blanket
• Once home, eat fresh fish within 1 to 2 days or freeze
• them. For top quality, use frozen fish within 3 to 6 months

9. If using a cooler, leftover food is safe only if the

cooler still has ice in it. Otherwise discard leftover food.

10. Whether in the wild or on the high seas, protect

yourself and your family by washing your hands before and

after handling food.

Terry Nicholls

My Home-Based Business Advisor

www.my-home-based-business-advisor.com

Copyright © by Terry Nicholls. All Rights Reserved.

About The Author

Terry Nicholls is the author of the eBook "Food Safety: Protecting Your Family From Food Poisoning". In addition, he writes from his own experiences in trying to start his own home-based business. To benefit from his success, visit My Home-Based Business Advisor - Helping YOUR Home Business Start and Succeed for free help for YOUR home business, including ideas, startup, and expansion advice.