As people celebrate during the summer, grilling and cooking out becomes more prevalent, but with that can come some foodborne illnesses.

Guthrie County Health Services Director Jotham Arber says that when people are cooking for any celebrations or get-togethers they need to remember to cook things to the right temperature. He mentions that all meats should be cooked to their recommended temperatures. Arber tells Raccoon Valley Radio that even when people do cook foods to the correct temperature, there are ways that people can still become ill from it.

“The number one thing that I see when people are calling in and we’re investigating foodborne illness is people who have had the right temperature to begin with, they’ve cooked the things like they needed to, but then they left it out for too long and it kind of spoiled. And over time, the food gained some things that it wouldn’t normally have there, and because they didn’t take care of them properly or they didn’t enclose them when they put them in their refrigerators, they kind of went bad, and now all of a sudden we’re dealing with that foodborne illness.”

Arber explains that cleanliness of hands and the workspace are also important when preparing food, especially when handling raw meats. He says that after handling raw meat, wash your hands well before touching other surfaces or foods to keep harmful bacteria from growing.