Don’t let foodborne illness spoil your tailgate

Another school year has begun, and for Hokie sports fans that means the start of a new football season and a lot of tailgating. But tailgating brings unique food safety challenges that you don’t necessarily have to worry about when eating at home. 

Virginia Tech food safety specialist Melissa Wright is here with a few tips you can follow to make sure your tailgate fun isn’t spoiled by foodborne illness.

“One of the biggest food safety issues people run into at tailgates is related to transporting and handling food,” Wright said. “The danger zone is between 40 degrees and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and allowing hot or cold food to be in that zone for longer than two hours can allow bacteria to multiply rapidly, leading to foodborne illness.” 

When the outdoor temperature is above 90 degrees, that window closes to one hour, Wright said. 

“The same guidance extends to serving food as well as transporting it,” Wright said. “You want to keep hot foods hot and cold foods like coleslaw and potato salad cold, so keep the crockpot on while serving meatballs and sausages and keep dips and cold spreads on ice.” 

Because access to electricity might be limited, Wright said wrapping cooked foods and their containers in aluminum foil or towels can help keep their temperature up.

Cross-contamination between raw meat and other foods is another common way foodborne bacteria can spread. 

“It’s a good idea to use separate coolers for raw meats and ready-to-eat foods that won’t be cooked,” Wright said. “Make sure raw proteins, including seafood, are packaged in sealed containers and kept in an insulated cooler below 40 degrees prior to cooking.”

There are plenty of opportunities for contamination during the cooking process as well, so never use the same cutting board or preparation surface for raw meats and other foods and use a clean pair of tongs that haven’t come into contact with raw foods when removing cooked foods from the grill. 

“You never want raw meat to come into contact with cooked meat,” Wright said. 

“Ground beef needs to reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees and all poultry needs to reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees to be safe, so bring your food thermometer as well.”

Some other helpful tips, Wright said, include:

• Food safety begins with clean hands and surfaces, even in an outdoor setting. Practice good hand hygiene, which might be as simple as a water jug, some soap, and paper towels. If the surfaces you have access to are not cleanable, consider using disposable tablecloths.

• Consider using a dedicated cooler for beverages because that cooler tends to be opened frequently as guests grab drinks throughout the tailgate, which likely won’t keep any food inside cold enough.

• Marinate meats under refrigeration (less than 40 degrees) and discard the excess. “A marinade should never be brushed onto a cooked item. They often contain raw ingredients and are meant to be cooked with the food, so throw out any leftover marinade you have left after putting food on the grill.”

Wright said many people don’t think of these things at an event like a tailgate, but with over 3,000 deaths and 128,000 hospitalizations due to foodborne illness in the U.S. each year, they’re worth keeping in mind. 

About Wright

Melissa Wright is director of the Food Producer Technical Assistance Network in the Department of Food Science and Technology at Virginia Tech.

Interview

To schedule an interview, contact Margaret Ashburn in the media relations office at [email protected] or 540-529-0814.