As the holiday weekend approaches many of our calendars may be filled with picnics and cookouts. While the mix of friends, family, good food and good times is great, warm weather and perishable food may not be. Below are some quick tips on food safety in warm weather.

• Wash hands before preparing food. • Keep hands and all surfaces clean. • Defrost all meat and poultry at home; never do it at the picnic. • Marinated meat should stay in the fridge until it's time to cook; don’t reuse the marinade. • Tightly seal raw meat for safe transport. • Pack coolers to keep the temperature below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. • On hot days transport the cooler in the back seat of the car instead of the hot trunk. • Don’t leave foods out longer than 2 hours; if it is hotter than 90 degrees Fahrenheit don’t leave out longer than 1 hour. • Cook hamburgers and brats to 160 degrees Fahrenheit and chicken breasts to 165 degrees Fahrenheit. • Never partially grill meat or poultry to finish cooking later.

Melissa Gerharter MS, RD is co-owner of Joust Strength and Fitness of Ann Arbor, joustfitness.com. She is also a personal trainer and an adjunct lecturer at Eastern Michigan University. She can be reached at Melissa@joustfitness.com