Tailgating and Food Safety

Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube Phone-alt Envelope
  • Pack soap, plenty of water and paper towels for handwashing. Pack disinfecting wipes/ sprays for sanitizing food-contact surfaces.
  • Hand sanitizing should not replace proper handwashing. However, if handwashing facilities are not available, use hand sanitizer and rub your hands together to ensure the gel covers both hands and all fingers until they are dry.
  • Make sure to wash your hands with warm water and soap after handling raw meat or poultry.
  • Ideally use a separate cooler to store raw meat. If you only have 1 cooler, then store raw poultry and meat in leak proof container at the bottom and ready to eat foods on top.
  • Fill the cooler with lots of ice or cooler packs to keep it cold (ideally at least 40F degrees (4C) or below)
  • Place the cooler away from direct sunlight to help maintain its inside temperature.
  • Portion out what you need when prepping, cooking, and serving. Return the remaining portions back into the cooler.
  • Ideally you want to keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot.
  • For cold foods like salads, cut fruit, cold sandwiches – serve them nested on a tray of ice.
  • For hot foods like hamburger patties, chicken, or chilis – serve them on a warming trays, chasing dish, chafing table, or slower cooker to keep the temperature above 140F (60C). Do not use these devices as a way to reheat food.
  • If you do not have these devices available, then avoid leaving foods out for more than 2 hours outside, or 1 hour if its hotter than 90F degrees (32C) outside. Replace serving utensils as needed.
  • If you are grilling meat, poultry, or seafood and/ or serving any foods that are hot, then use a food thermometer to cook foods to their safe internal temperatures to destroy harmful bacteria
  • Use separate plates and utensils for raw meat, poultry, and seafood. When these foods are cooked to their proper internal temperature, switch to a clean set of utensils and plate to pull them from the grill.