If you're cooking basically meat over fire, you might think there would be less worry about food safety. Not so, says Chris Eddy, director of environmental health for the Hamilton County General Health District.

        Barbecue cooks still need to be careful to cook meat and poultry to proper temperatures and to prevent cross-contamination between raw and cooked foods, he says.

        “If you're cooking right outside your back door, it can be relatively easy,” Mr. Eddy says. “But if you go to a park to cookout, there may be no facilities to wash your hands or your utensils, and you will probably have no refrigerator.”

        Grilling foods to the proper internal temperature is the biggest barbecue safety concern, he says. A close second is contamination of spatulas and other cooking utensils.

        If you use a spatula to put raw hamburgers on a grill, Mr. Eddy warns you must wash the spatula before moving the cooked burgers to a platter. If you can't wash the spatula, it might be easier to take two sets of cooking utensils to your cookout: one for handling raw foods and another for cooked foods.

        More cookout food safety tips:

        • Safety begins in the grocery store — especially when the weather is warm and you have to transport the food home or to the picnic site. When shopping, pick up poultry and meat last, just before checkout. Ask to have it bagged separately from other foods to prevent contamination.

        • Don't put meat or poultry in the car trunk for the trip home. Keep it in the air-conditioning and go home as soon as possible. If you expect the trip to take longer than 30 minutes, take a cooler and ice down the perishable foods.

        • Refrigerate or freeze meat or poultry as soon as you arrive home. Freeze uncooked poultry and ground beef within one or two days. Freeze other meats within four or five days.

        • Thaw meat or poultry slowly in the refrigerator, in sealed packages under continuously running cold water or in the microwave. Never thaw meat on the counter.

        • If you want to use marinade as a basting sauce or table sauce, reserve a little in a separate container. Discard marinade that has touched raw meat or poultry.

        • Marinate meat or poultry in refrigerator.

        • It's safe to shorten grilling time by precooking meat and poultry in an oven or microwave, but only if you plan to finish grilling the food immediately. The same rule applies if you grill the meat or poultry partially and then finish it in the oven or microwave. Always finish cooking the food immediately.

        • Because the fire is hot (often too hot) meat and poultry can sometimes brown too quickly on the outside without being cooked completely inside. Use a meat thermometer to ensure a safe internal temperature, and cut into the food to look for signs of doneness.

        Here are proper cooking temperatures:

        Whole poultry: 165 degrees.

        Poultry breasts: 165 degrees.

        Ground beef: 155 degrees.

        Beef, veal and lamb steaks or chops: 145 degrees.

        Pork: 155 degrees.

        Fully cooked meats such as hot dogs: 165 degrees (or until steaming hot).

        • After the food is cooked, keep it at 140 degrees or higher until served — in an oven or the side of the grill rack, not directly over the coals.

        • If you are barbecuing away from running water facilities, take a small basin and soap for hand-washing.

        • Don't handle cooked foods with utensils used on raw foods. Don't place cooked meat and poultry on the same platter used for raw foods. Use sturdy disposable plates to transport raw and cooked foods.

        • Under normal conditions, store leftovers in a refrigerator or freezer within two hours. If the temperature outdoors (or in your kitchen) is above 90 degrees, refrigerate leftovers within one hour. (If you're away from home, put the food on ice in a cooler within one hour.)

        E-mail cmartin@enquirer.com.

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