Picnic Food Safety

When left unrefrigerated, many foods can become contaminated with bacteria that produce the dangerous toxins that cause food poisoning. These bacteria are indetectable by sight, smell or taste and thrive on foods that are left out for very long, especially at warmer, summer temperatures. Foodborne illness symptoms are much like those of the flu, which include headache, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and fever. These signs may not appear until several hours to several days after eating a contaminated food. – FoodReference.com

With the Memorial Day weekend coming up, the season of picnicking officially begins. But beware: picnic foods can be hazardous!

• Picnic foods -- such as potato or macaroni salads, sandwich fillings, hamburger patties and cut watermelon -- require a lot of manual preparation. Handling increases the risk of contamination with harmful bacteria from unclean hands.


• Some common picnic foods are cooked or prepared in large quantities and kept unrefrigerated for hours. Warm temperatures promote bacterial growth.

Here are some guidelines for a safe picnic from NCSU and the FDA.

• Wash hands before handling food and use only clean utensils and containers. Wash all cooking surfaces and equipment.


• Over 67% of reported cases of foodborne illness are due to improper cooling. If not served immediately, cooked foods need to be rapidly cooled in shallow pans.


• Food illness bacteria, such as Salmonella and Shigella are often present on the rinds of watermelons. Wash watermelons before cutting them. Better yet, wash all fruits and vegetables.


• Keep cold food cold in a well-packed cooler. Mix the ice amongst the food – never just place the food on top of ice (cold air sinks, heat rises). Meat, poultry, and seafood may be packed while still frozen. When traveling keep your cooler on a car seat since the trunk can reach 150 F. While picnicking cover the cooler with a blanket and keep in a shaded spot. Keep all food in the cooler until needed. Anything left outside the cooler after one hour should be tossed.


• Pack pop cans in a separate cooler from food items. Since the soda cooler will constantly be reopened, the ice will melt faster and the temperature will be warmer.


• Keep hot food hot. Take-out foods (like KFC) or foods just cooked at home must be kept hot by wrapping them in insulation like towels, then newspaper, and then placing inside a box or heavy paper bag. Hot food should not be allowed to sit out for more than one hour.


• Never mix raw and cooked meat. Use separate utensils and dishes so bacteria from raw meat cannot jump to cooked meat.


• Cook food completely. No pink spots or blood in the juices.


• Toss out any leftovers from a picnic. The only safe food to keep is cold food that never left the cooler IF the cooler still has ice.

Bottom Line

The one hour and toss rule is for hot summer days above 90 F. Below that the FDA says two hours is the time limit before tossing.

The CDC has a cute site (kid friendly?) called Grillin' and Chillin' Keeping food safe during summer cookouts and picnics