Food Safety and Inspection Service United States Department of Agriculture Washington, D.C. 20250-3700

Consumer Education and Information

May 1998
Contact Information Slightly Revised May 2000

Cross-Contamination Causes Summer Illnesses

Summer is the season for people to kick back and take things a little easier. Families take vacations, cook dinner on the grill, and take picnics to the beach or the mountains. But while the rest of us are taking it easy in the summer, food safety investigators are working overtime investigating foodborne illnesses – many of them caused by cross-contamination. Experts estimate that there are 6 million to 33 million cases of bacterial foodborne disease in the United States each year, with outbreaks peaking in the summertime.

    One year ago President Clinton proposed a $43 million Food Safety Initiative designed to reduce foodborne illness by strengthening and improving food safety practices and policies. Today, more than 40 different projects are underway as a result. The initiative calls for:

• Enhanced food safety inspection and monitoring;
• More public health surveillance and improved government coordination when food-related illnesses occur; and
• More education for consumers and food service/industry workers.

    To learn more about foodborne illness, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are collaborating with state health departments and local investigators at seven locations across the country to identify more accurately the incidence of foodborne illness in the United States. The first year’s results of FoodNet, the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, have been released and one notable discovery was the pronounced spike in the number of foodborne illnesses in the summertime.

Why is there more foodborne illness in the summer? Investigators suggest several reasons:

1. More parties, picnics, and community events are held. The more food-handling methods and handlers, the greater the chance of food being mishandled.
2. Bacteria grow faster at warmer temperatures. In just one hour at summertime temperatures (90 ° F and above) perishable foods can become dangerous.
3. More food is cooked outdoors. It can be difficult to determine if hamburgers or chicken cooked on the grill are thoroughly cooked.
4. There are more opportunities for cross-contamination. These include putting cooked burgers on the plate that held raw patties, using the same utensils to serve raw meat and poultry and ready-to-eat foods, and lack of facilities for food handlers to wash their hands and utensils.

    To fight foodborne illness, one of the Food Safety Initiative’s most ambitious consumer education efforts has begun. The Partnership for Food Safety Education, a public/private partnership joining industry, government, and consumer groups, recently launched its first food safety campaign, Fight BAC!^TM . The campaign stresses four critical food safety principles:

• Clean: Wash hands and surfaces often.
• Separate: Don’t cross-contaminate.
• Cook: Cook to proper temperatures.
• Chill: Refrigerate promptly.

    Cross-contamination is how bacteria spread from one food product to another. This is especially true for raw meat, poultry and seafood. Experts caution to keep these foods and their juices away from ready-to-eat foods and foods eaten raw, such as salad ingredients. Fortunately, foodborne illness due to cross-contamination is easily preventable, if safe food handling practices are observed. The Fight BAC!^TM campaign makes these recommendations to avoid cross-contamination:

• Separate raw meat, poultry and seafood from other food in the grocery cart.
• Store raw meat, poultry and seafood on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator so juices don’t drip onto other foods.
• If possible, use one cutting board for raw meat products and another for salads and other foods that are ready to be eaten.
• Always wash cutting boards, knives and other utensils with hot soapy water after they come in contact with raw meat, poultry, and seafood.
• Never place cooked food on a plate that previously held raw meat, poultry or seafood.

    Summertime cooking requires additional care to ensure food safety:

• When picnicking or cooking outdoors, take plenty of clean utensils. Pack clean, soapy sponges, clothes and wet towelettes for cleaning surfaces and hands.
• Don’t use any marinade from raw meat or poultry on cooked food unless it’s boiled first to destroy any bacteria that may be present.
• When taking food off the grill, don’t put the cooked items on the same platter that held the raw meat unless the dish is washed with soap and hot water. Serve cooked products on clean plates with clean utensils and clean hands.
• Use a meat thermometer to judge doneness of meat and poultry cooked on the grill. It is essential that a meat thermometer be used when cooking hamburgers. Research indicates that the color of the meat and the color of the juices are not accurate indicators of doneness. Use a meat thermometer to be sure ground beef has been cooked to a safe temperature, 160 ° F. Although safe to eat at 160 ° F, cook poultry to 170 ° F (white meat) and 180 ° F (dark meat) for doneness.

    No one wants to get sick, especially in the summertime. By spreading the word about food safety and the importance of safe food handling, food safety experts and investigators hope that the number of food-related illnesses will decrease this summer and that they, too, can kick back and enjoy the summer.

    The media may call Bessie Berry, Manager, USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline, at (202) 720-5604.

    Information is also available from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service’s Web site at http://www.fsis.usda.gov.   Information about the Partnership for Food Safety Education and the Fight BAC!^TM campaign is available at the Web site www.fightbac.org.

May 1998

For Further Information Contact:
FSIS Food Safety Education Staff
Meat and Poultry Hotline:

• 1-800-535-4555 (Toll-free Nationwide)
• (202) 720-3333 (Washington, DC area)
• 1-800-256-7072 (TDD/TTY)

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