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.

One of the contributors to this blog is Dr. Randy Huffman, who joined our company in early 2009 as our very first Chief Food Safety Officer - a position we created after the Listeriosis outbreak of 2008 that resulted from products made at Maple Leaf.  Bringing Randy on board was one of many steps we undertook to improve as an organization.  He oversees and leads our activities in food safety and quality systems, sanitation, testing, and technologies.  But he also helps us keep up-to-date with industry and that’s vital to our commitment to food safety – to share information and learn the latest in food science, microbiology and nutrition.  

Another sign of what Randy brings to our organization is the fact that he assumed the role of President of the American Meat Science Association just this week. The AMSA has a membership of over 1800 meat scientists from 32 countries representing major  research and teaching institutions and  food companies .  It s core purpose is to be the global source of scientific information on meat science by holding forums and  conferences that share the latest science and  the association publishes the peer reviewed journal  Meat Science.  It’s a career milestone for Randy and shows what a leader he’s been in food science going back many years and with many collaborators.

It’s a real asset for us to have someone who we know is respected in his field and up-to-date in working with international partners in sharing research and state-of-the-art industry information. And we congratulate him on his achievement.