Mahoning Ext. director offers tips on avoiding food spoilage, illness

Staff report

CANFIELD

As picnic season approaches, the Mahoning County Extension Office of The Ohio State University urges the public to take common-sense precautions to prevent food spoilage and foodborne illness.

The advice comes from Beth Stefura, extension director and family and consumer sciences educator.

Stefura advises keeping all perishable food refrigerated until just before leaving home and then packing those items in a cooler with ice or thermal insulated ice packs.

“If you’re having potato salad, you want to make sure you put it in an insulated container or put it in ice,” she said. “You want to make sure that you’re keeping it cold.”

Retail stores sell “a lot of neat new thermal insulated containers that you can use” to keep perishable items cold, Stefura said.

The most perishable foods are potato, macaroni and seafood salads or any mayonnaise or protein-based items, Stefura said.

If there will be a long drive or multiple stops before the picnic food is to be consumed, Stefura suggested purchasing the most- perishable items at a store en route, which is near the place where the food will be eaten.

In warm weather, the inside of a parked car becomes extremely hot, and food left inside will spoil quickly under those conditions, warned Eric Barrett, agriculture and natural- resources educator.