With many folks cranking up the sizzle on the celebration of summertime coming to an end this Labor Day weekend, it’s a fine time for a refresher on good grilling practices.
Dealing with raw meat can be tricky, and cooking it improperly can be deadly.
“Cooking food thoroughly and handling it correctly is critically important,” said Carmen Rottenberg, acting deputy undersecretary for the USDA’s Office for Food Safety and administrator of the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. “The food produced is not sterile. … People want to cook raw food and prepare it at home. If you prepare it at home, you have to know there are some risks associated with it.”
When grilling raw meat, there are multiple steps you can take to avoid getting food poisoning, especially with E. coli, which can cause dehydration, bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps three to four days after exposure – and potentially kidney failure in children under 5 years old and older adults, the CDC says.
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