With it being summertime, lots of people enjoy cooking and eating outdoors. However, there are some safety tips to keep in mind when preparing and serving food outside.

Greene County Extension Nutrition Specialist and Registered Dietitian Ann Heuer says when grilling meat, make sure to cook chicken or poultry to at least 165-degrees fahrenheit; 160-degrees for ground meats; 145-degrees for fish, pork or steak and 135-degrees for vegetables. She talks about what could happen if protein like chicken or pork is undercooked to the recommended temperatures.

“Actually there’s some bacteria and some viruses that can cause people to get really sick. Typically its your younger kiddos like under preschool age, or much older people that have compromised immune systems, or people that might be taking certain medicines. So for those people you definitely want to make sure that you’re cooking the food all the way.”

She points out that foods that need to be refrigerated or cooked should only be out for two-hours before being put back in the refrigerator and she adds the same is true whether the food is oil or cream-based.

“Obviously our like cream-based or mayo-based types of things or things with eggs in it are more prone to having bacteria grow on them. So those can make people sick. But anything that’s kept cold, you want to make sure to put back in the fridge.”

Finally, Heuer notes to avoid cross-contamination with raw and cooked meats, either use different dishes or thoroughly wash the dish that had the raw meat on it before putting the cooked meat back on it before serving it to other people.