Safety Guide: Summer and Home Safety Part 4

This is the end of summer and home safety posts for a while. I’m getting tired of how overwhelming safety is. Gosh, how did I ever survive without serious injury or did my mom manage without worrying about the potential dangers lurking around every corner?

While it can be daunting, your time to childproof is a small price to pay to ensure your child’s safety.

HEAT AND KIDS

More sunshine and outdoor activities means increased risk for heat-related illnesses. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an average of 300 people die annually from excessive heat exposure in the United States – with children and elderly being at the greatest risk.

The three types of heat-related illnesses to look for are:

• Heat cramps are the least serious and involve muscle pains or spasms in the arms, legs, or abdomen usually during strenuous activity. It's believed to be caused by low salt levels in the muscles from increased sweating, but can be a sign of heat exhaustion. They do not always require medical attention. The following tips are suggested for heat cramps:

1. Stop all activity and cool off.
2. Drink clear juice or a sports drink.
3. Gently stretch or massage the area.
4. Do not return to any strenuous activity, even after the cramps go away, for several hours as this can lead to heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
5. Seek medical attention if the cramps do not go away in one hour or if the victim has heart problems or is on a low-sodium diet.

SUMMER FOOD SAFETY

First, children should be kept away from grills, barbecues or outdoor cooking fires at all times.

Since bacteria grow faster in the warm weather, especially when humidity is high and  more people cook and eat outdoors where refrigerators and sinks aren't available, studies show that cases of food-borne illness rise in summer.

Young children and elderly are more vulnerable to food-borne bacteria, because of their immature or weakened immune systems.

Here are some simple steps for food safety in the summer.

• Wash your hands with hot, soapy water before handling food and after using the bathroom, changing diapers, or handling pets.
• Use disposable wipes or antibacterial gels if away from a sink.
• Dry your hands with paper towels.
• Cross-contamination during preparation, grilling, and serving food is a prime cause of food-borne illness. Be sure to  pack your cooler carefully; wrap raw meats or poultry so the juices won't come in contact with other foods.
• Wash any objects that held raw meat or fish before using them again.
• Don't undercook your food.
• Foods should be heated long and at a high enough temperature to kill harmful bacteria.
• Meat and poultry cooked on a grill often brown fast on the outside but may be undercooked inside. Check them with a thermometer.
• Do not partial cook foods ahead of time, this allows bacteria to survive and multiply to the point that subsequent cooking can't destroy them.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) recommends that hamburger and other ground meats are cooked to an internal temperature of 160°F and ground poultry to 165°F. You cannot determine if the meat is safe simply by the color.
• Steaks and roasts that have been tenderized, boned, rolled, etc., to 160°F for well-done.
• Whole steaks and roasts may be cooked to 145°F for medium rare.
• Whole poultry should be cooked to 180°F.
• Chicken breast meat should be cooked to 170°F.
• Refrigeration: luncheon meats, cooked meats, chicken, fish, potato or pasta salads, and other perishables should be kept in an insulated cooler with several inches of ice or ice packs. Replenish the ice when it starts to melt. Don't put food out until your family is ready to eat it.
• Pack beverages in one cooler and perishable foods in another as  the beverage will be opened more often. Also, keep the cooler on the seat of the car not in the hot trunk and put it in the shade when you unpack the car.
• Leftovers: place leftovers back in the cooler after you finish eating.
• Food left out of refrigeration for more than two hours may not be safe to eat. At 90°F or above, food left out over one hour can spoil.

HELPFUL TOOLS

• “Instant read” thermometers are designed to be inserted in fast-cooking foods such as hamburgers to test for doneness. Foods such as meat and poultry require thermometers that stay in the food throughout the cooking process.

For additional food safety information, call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 800-535-4555 or visit the online at www.USDA.gov.

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