Picnic Safety

For many, picnics are anticipated activities during summer season. Warm weather makes picnics perfect. Picnics outdoors are fun indeed but don't spoil the fun by neglecting some safety basics. Especially if you're holding your picnic on some other place, observe precautionary measures to ensure everybody's safety. Even if you intend to have fun, safety should still be your priority.

Take handling of food, for example. Proper handling of picnic food is important, especially if you're preparing them before hand and intend to pack them later. Picnic foods, when spoiled, not sanitized, or handled safely, can be a possible breeding ground for bacteria, which may cause food-borne diseases.

Coolers & Filters

Many picnic foods require physical handling, especially when preparing them. For example are traditional food such as salads and sandwiches. The common way of preparing salads is to wash and cut each vegetable prior hand, and pack them separately from the dressing. You only toss them together on picnic eating time. As for sandwiches, you have to prepare the fillings or cold meats aside from handling the bread.

To avoid spoilage, a good practice is to cook or pre-cook your picnic food beforehand, especially if you're preparing in large servings. Give the food enough time to cool down, and after which put them inside the fridge or freezer, and reheat them only when needed on the picnic day itself. When pre-cooking, perhaps the day or night before the picnic day is good.

Freshly cooked food, hot when packed immediately can cause moisture to build up, and promote growth of bacteria. Remember, bacteria ideally thrive in warm temperature, and the longer the food is kept in that, the more likely do bacteria grow.

Though cooking in advance is good, convenient, and saves you time, do not prepare your picnic food more than the day before. If you intend to do so, make sure it's frozen. Just thaw it properly on picnic day.

Always wash your hands and make sure they're clean when handling food and utensils. Make sure the containers and utensils you use are also clean. Even the surface on which you prepare your food should be clean to avoid food contamination. Bacteria and viruses can easily be transferred from one place to another. This is a general rule to keep in mind either you prepare your food in advance or on the picnic site itself.

Certain food should be kept cold as they are more at risk of bacteria growth even in room temperature. For example, cut melons. Food with mayonnaise such as salads dressings or sandwich fillings should be kept cold too. If you're grilling on the picnic itself, make sure your meats are fresh when frozen.

When packing, make sure your containers are clean too. Also, if you need to bring cold or hot food, store them in special containers. Cold food should be kept at least 40 degrees Fahrenheit while hot foods require 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Store cold foods in tight water proof containers and pack them inside insulated coolers with lots of ice. Pack the cold foods in between the ice and not just above them. Also, you have to avoid putting your coolers inside your car's trunk to preserve your ice longer. At the picnic site, keep them closed and put them under shade too.

Picnic Safety

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