10 Wide Open Tips For Food Safety In The Great Outdoors

Hiking, camping, and boating are good activities forbe sure to purify any water from the wild, no
activematter how
people and families. However, if the food isn'tclean it appears.4. If you're backpacking for more
handledthan a day, the food
correctly, food-borne illness can be an unwelcomesituation gets a little more complicated. You can still
souvenir.1. Choose foods that are light enough tobring cold foods for the first day, but you'll have to
carry in a backpackpack
and that can be transported safely. Keep foodsshelf-stable items for the next day. Canned goods
either hot orare safe,
cold. Since it's difficult to keep foods hot without abut heavy, so plan your menu carefully. Advances in
heatfood
source, it's best to transport chilled foods.technology have produced relatively lightweight
Refrigerate orstaples that
freeze the food overnight. What foods to bring? Fordon't need refrigeration or careful packaging. For
a dayexample:
hike, just about anything will do as long as you canpeanut butter in plastic jars
fit itconcentrated juice boxes
in your backpack and keep it cold -- sandwiches,canned tuna, ham, chicken, and beef
frieddried noodles and soups
chicken, bread and cheese, and even salads -- orbeef jerky and other dried meats
choose non-dehydrated foods
perishable foods.2. Keep everything clean. Rememberdried fruits and nuts
to bring disposable wipespowdered milk and fruit drinks
if you're taking a day trip. (Water is too heavy to5. If you're cooking meat or poultry on a portable
bringstove or
enough for cleaning dishes!)3. It's not a good idea toover a fire, you'll need a way to determine when it's
depend on fresh water from adone
lake or stream for drinking, no matter how clean itand safe to eat. Color is not a reliable indicator of
appears.doneness, and it can be especially tricky to tell the
Some pathogens thrive in remote mountain lakes orcolor
streamsof a food if you're cooking in a wooded area in the
and there's no way to know what might have fallenevening.
into theIt's critical to use a food thermometer when cooking
water upstream. Bring bottled or tap water forhamburgers. Ground beef may be contaminated with
drinking.E. coli, a
Always start out with a full water bottle andparticularly dangerous strain of bacteria. Illnesses
replenish yourhave
supply from tested public systems when possible.occurred even when ground beef patties were
On longcooked until
trips you can find water in streams, lakes, andthere was no visible pink.
springs, but