Food safety on the road
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EmailUse these simple tips when traveling.
It takes planning and thought when making arrangements to travel locally or even further, particularly when we are taking food or snacks with us. Consider taking snacks and foods that do not require any refrigeration, especially on hot days. Michigan State University Extension has a few tips that can help guide you when making snack choices for food safety on the road.
Many types of snacks do not need special care such as refrigeration. For safe snacks take items such as pretzels, whole apples, and whole bananas or other fruits that are safe within their own covering. For example, look at where grocery stores keep whole fruit stored. Are they in a refrigerated area or on a shelf or in a big bin. Most whole fruits are not refrigerated, however if that fruit or vegetable is cut, they would need refrigeration.
It is also helpful to package snacks like pretzels in individual bags. That helps with portion size and keeps several different hands from reaching into the same box or bag for the same food. Another easy safe option is to purchase prepackaged foods such as chips, trail mix or even dehydrated foods but these may be more expensive.
Consider what drinks you are planning on taking. Drinks are important to keep people hydrated so plan to take water-based drinks. Dairy products spoil quickly if not kept cold. Some drinks may not taste good unless they are cold. You may want to have a cooler just for drinks. Freezing water bottles that you can pack throughout the cooler can help cool drinks down as well as contribute to keeping food safe. If you do freeze water bottles, make sure you remove some of the water prior to freezing. Ice will expand and could break open water bottles, exposing them to potential bacteria already in the cooler. Before using a cooler for any food or drinks wash, rinse and sanitize the inside and outside of the cooler, just to be food safe.
Keeping snacks cold can easily be done by freezing ice water in the bottles you plan to take, or fruit juice packs. Then place the frozen water or juice packs throughout the cooler. As they thaw in the cooler they will help maintain the cool temperature that is needed to keep foods safe for travel. It is also helpful to chill any items that are going into the cooler prior to placing them in the cooler. Separate items into smaller portions so they can be distributed evenly throughout the insulated bag or cooler.
Washing hands is our best way to reduce the number of germs spread but if there isn’t a clean running water source using unscented hand washing wipes or hand sanitizer is a safe option. Even though hand sanitizer isn’t the best way to lower germs on our hands, it is still the best way to attempt to maintain a healthy road trip.
