With the grilling season getting into full swing, firing up the barbecue is a staple on almost everyone’s summer to do lists.  It is a time to gather with family and friends for a tasty meal while enjoying the outdoors.  But Canadian summer days of course mean warmer temperatures and that means cooking outdoors has to be done with care. 

Fortunately, there are easy tips you can undertake that minimize foodborne illness with some helpful tips.

• Shop for meat and poultry last, and separate them from other food to avoid cross contamination.
• Once at home refrigerate meat and poultry immediately. Keep raw meats on the bottom shelf of the fridge to avoid any packages from leaking juices onto foods below.
• Thaw meat and poultry completely before grilling so as to cook evenly.
• Marinate food in the refrigerator, instead of on counter tops.
  • A good practice is to discard marinades after use but if a marinade is to be reused, make sure to boil it to destroy any harmful bacteria.
• Keep food cold when carrying it to another location or when bringing your shopping home.  Insulated coolers with ice packs are an ideal option.
• Make sure food not being used is away from direct sunlight; only take out food that will be immediately placed on the grill.
• Cleanliness is key; ensure there are utensils and platters.
  • Never use the same platter for raw and cooked foods.
• Different meats cook to different temperatures. These small temperature differences make a big difference when it comes to food safety. And so does a food thermometer you can use to check temperatures.

Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures

•  
  • Hamburgers, beef: 71.1 C / 160 F
  • Beef, lamb, and veal (steaks, roasts, and chops):
    • Medium rare 62.7 C / 145 F
    • Medium 71.1 C / 160 F
  • All cuts of pork 71.1 C / 160 F
  • All poultry 73.8 C /165 F for pieces (85°C / 185°F for whole birds)

Here in Canada, summer barbecues are an enjoyable and relaxing change of pace and it’s great to get back outdoors after the winter, but not bbq-ing year round means we may not be mindful of the food safety risks or precautions we have to take.  You can find more information on Health Canada’s site and their tips for barbecuing page.

Randy Huffman, Chief Food Safety Officer and John Placko, Director of Culinary Excellence

We’ve undertaken a lot of things internally at Maple Leaf Foods to promote food safety, and we’ve outlined a lot of that on this blog.  But ensuring public health overall in our communities doesn’t end at our front door – it is a total partnership. One of the things we have promised to do as part of our Food Safety Pledge is to build partnerships to share information and support education on food safety.  Another step in this direction is a partnership with the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) which we announced today.

‘Public health’ tends to be something people overlook or take for granted as part of ‘health care’.  People’s top of mind expectations of the health care system tend to focus on “illness” or the response to it rather than a holistic look at “health”.  Public health professionals help bring that focus in seeking to prevent illness and promoting good health. CPHA is a non-governmental organization focused exclusively on public health and they have worked for decades to tackle a number of other well-known public health causes.

The partnership we’re undertaking with them aims to provide those who tend to be more at-risk for foodborne illness with the information they need to prepare foods safely for themselves and their families.  These include seniors, pregnant women, people with immune deficiencies such as those with HIV and people undergoing cancer treatment. A first step and a goal of the partnership is to ensure that people who are at higher risk know that fact (based on their risk category) and then given the information they need to minimize risk with simple and useful food safety tips and tools.  This will happen through educational and online materials targeted at those at-risk Canadians.

Once these materials are developed – which will be available in French, English and other languages –  we’ll be sure to share the links to them here and through other means.

Last night, I had a chance to meet with a number of bloggers at our Mississauga offices. I’ve dealt a lot with “mainstream media” over the years but meeting with bloggers, particularly those who keep followers up to date on food and nutrition, was a new step for me.  It’s part of a new reality where people are using social media to speak directly to hundreds and in some cases thousands of followers especially about issues that aren’t always in the mainstream. And that’s important. People are using the internet to get the information they need when they need it.

The real goal for Maple Leaf Foods in doing this kind of event is to keep in touch with our consumers who want to have confidence in the products they have purchased and trusted from our company for years. They have expectations of us and we want to meet those expectations and hear from them. 

Following the listeriosis outbreak of August 2008 we’ve redoubled our efforts in so many areas of food safety and quality control.  And we’ve updated information about our efforts, our commitment, and our record in these areas in our Food Safety Pledge.

One of the things I learned from the events of 2008 is how much the various players in system – consumers, industry and government – can and need to benefit from up-to-date food safety information.

To that end we’ve committed inour  Food Safety Pledge to share what we’ve learned Science and best practices are evolving all the time and new information is always coming on stream. Food safety is a fundamental responsibility that every one of us operating in the food industry shares, and by sharing information we will collectively raise the bar even higher than regulations require.

But what about information for consumers – the millions of Canadians who trust Maple Leaf Foods for a range of great tasting, quality products? That’s why we continue to engage in conversations through different channels. Yesterday, and last week in Vancouver, bloggers we met with put various questions to me and members of our food safety team that their readers wanted addressed. Questions focused on :

What happened to create the crisis in 2008?

What are we doing to ensure training and standards have an effect going forward?

How are we ensuring quality throughout the process: not just in our plants but also at farms and during shipping to stores?

What is our reaction to recent studies about nitrites in food and are we promoting nutritious and healthy options?

These are all areas where we’ve made advances. But we are continuously looking for ways to improve – whether it’s offering a range of healthy choices and balance in our product lines or improving in food safety,

We’ll be looking to see what other comments and questions that bloggers’ readers have in response to the  blog posts based on last night’s session. As well, we’re hoping to hear from you here on this blog.  We’ll continue to answer the top questions and comments we receive on an ongoing basis, as well as share information and updates about our efforts.  It’s all part of maintaining an ongoing discussion on food safety and health issues and I look forward to your participation.