consumer safety

Food Friday: Healthy Barbecue, Grilling, and Picnics.

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Everybody loves to play with fire, especially people who like good food and who don't want to be stuck in a hot kitchen in the summertime. 

Check out this comprehensive list of tips for barbecue, grilling and picnics and you will be the smartest flamethrower on the block. 

 

 

 

 

Grilling: 

  • 7000 people each year suffer grilling injuries. 
  • Read your grill's owner's manual. 
  • Use propane and charcoal grills outside only.
  • Use in a well ventilated area, away from combustible material and at least ten feet from a structure. 
  • Ensure the grill is stable. 
  • Do not move a hot grill. 
  • Have long handled cooking utensils.
  • Have fire extinguisher, baking soda, a bucket of sand, or water handy. 
  • For propane grills, check fittings to make sure they're tight. Check propane hose for gas leaks by applying soapy water and checking for bubbles. 
  • Never turn on a gas grill with the lid closed or you will risk explosion ! 
  • For charcoal grills, use a chimney or electric starter. Never add lighter fluid to a flame. 
  • Dispose of cool coals in a metal container. 
  • Keep younger children away from the grill. 
  • Never leave a grill unattended. 

 

Food Handling: 

  • Buy cold foods like meat and poultry last, when you are about to head for home. Bag them so liquids cannot contaminate other foods that will not be cooked. 
  • Wash hands with soap before handling food, and keep surfaces and utensils clean. 
  • Thaw in the refrigerator or the microwave NOT the counter. 
  • Keep raw food separate from cooked food. 
  • Marinate in the fridge, not on the counter. Poultry and cubed meat may marinate only 2d, other types 5 days. 
  • Trim fat to minimize hazardous flares and unhealthy charring. 
  • Consider precooking to shorten grilling times. 
  • Consider buying a food thermometer. They're inexpensive. 
  • Cook food thoroughly. 

Poultry 165 degrees

Ground red meat 160 degrees

Beef pork lamb and veal 145 degrees, and allow to rest three minutes. 

Reheat cooked meat like hot dogs to 165 degrees. 

  • Keep cold food cold and hot food hot. 
  • Don't let cooked foods sit out more than an hour if the temperature is greater than 90 degrees. 
  • Discard food left out more than 2 hours. 

 

Healthy Grilling recipes: 

Cooking Light 

Food Network

Eating Well

Fitness Magazine

Food and Wine 

Health

 

ENJOY ! 

 

References:

FDA Barbecue Basics

UDSA on food safety

National Fire Protection Safety Association 

 

Medical Monday: Another Obstacle to Health Care: Anti-science

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What does vagina steaming and the recent measles outbreak having common ? Need a hint ? OK. What can make people on both sides of the political spectrum mad ? You guessed it ! The anti - science movement. 

According to that venerable site rationalwiki.org, anti science 

" refers to persons or organizations that promote their ideology over scientifically-verified evidence,[3] usually either by denying said evidence and/or creating their own." 

Recall that science is advanced through the scientific method, which involves testing hypotheses with experiments, then revising said hypotheses. Experiments should be on done on that which is measurable, done blinded, controlled, and should be reproducible and peer reviewed by the appropriate scientific institution. Science is always undergoing a process of refinement based on observable facts. 

This should be clear. Yet the media and advertising to which we are daily exposed has become a brew of fake science and real science. How is a person to know the difference ? Well you can use your gut feeling of course. ( And I have a bad feeling about vagina steaming.)  Or, you can have a look at my section of this site where I try to give some help on this issue. It is called Information and Learning. I try to give you some tools with which to navigate the information stream coming at you every day. 

Let's look at some hot news topics where anti-science is in play: climate change, genetic engineering, vaccines, juice cleanses, GMO food, stem cell research, and yes vagina steaming. These topics are especially hot in election years, and when money is involved. 

Here is a great article in Scientific American about a science quiz given to presidential candidates 2012. 

Click here to either laugh or cry. 

Here too, is a fair handed look at anti-vaccine sentiment on both sides of the aisle from Slate. 

Here is fantastic compendium of articles from various writers on the anti-science movement from Huffington Post. 

I would like everyone to take a charitable look at the nature of our national dialog. Feelings are running high, especially in the wake of the recent measles outbreak. In this climate, where there are many voices clamoring to be heard, let us keep the dialog civil and ahem, scientific, whenever possible. 

In that spirit, I will share with you an article about one of my favorite most well intentioned celebrity health gurus, Gwyneth Paltrow. Don't get me wrong, I love Gwyneth. Her site, Goop.com is full of lovely recipes and pretty unaffordable clothes. She has a holistic approach and a lovely positive attitude which really does count for a lot. HOWEVER, I cite this article below to show that sweet well intentioned people can get it wrong. Enjoy, and remember that laughter and affection are the best medicines. 

Three Reasons You Definitely Shouldn't Get Your Vagina Steamed , from Women's Health