Who doesn't like a picnic?  Fresh air, hotdogs, watermelon...and no stuffy dining room rules! But picnics can be spoiled if food isn't handled properly.  It is especially important to keep cold foods cold when temperatures outside are high. Help your Mom or Dad by sharing the following tips to help make picnicking fun and safe.

• When transporting food to a picnic site, keep it cold so bacteria can't grow and spoil it. Pack meat and other perishables in coolers containing ice or cold packs.  Keep the cooler in the shade and avoid opening the lid too often. If you bring along a lot of beverages, use a separate cooler for the bottles and cans.
• Take only the amount of food that you will cook and eat.  Serve the food immediately and remember not to keep food out of the refrigerator or cooler for more than two hours. If the air temperature is 85 degrees or hotter, keep food out less than one hour.
• Be sure to take plenty of clean serving spoons and forks so each dish has its own; if one dish spoils, the bacteria won't be moved to another dish through a contaminated utensil.
• If you are cooking hamburgers, grill them until they are well done and the juices run clear when they are poked with a fork. Red, juicy burgers can grow bacteria.
• Pack clean, soapy sponges, cloths and wet towelettes for cleaning surfaces and hands.
• Clean the picnic site before you go home as common courtesy for the next picnickers. You wouldn't want to sit down at a dirty picnic table or cook on a dirty grill; no one else does either.