Part I of this series deals with food safety away from ice and refrigeration.

COOLERS

Whether you’re heading out for an afternoon or for several days in a car or campsite, coolers are probably going to be part of your planning.  Packing and using your coolers efficiently is important to keeping the contents from spoiling.

Styrofoam and soft-sided coolers may work for day trips, but for anything longer invest in a hard-sided cooler with a snug-fitting top.  Metal coolers will absorb and hold more heat from the sun, so plastic is your best bet.  Wheels are handy, and a drain is a must.

Every time a cooler is opened, precious cool air escapes.  Consider having two coolers, one with food for meals and another for beverages and snacks.  You’ll be able to keep your foods at a more stable temperature if the cooler isn’t being opened throughout the day.

Store your cooler in the shade.  If none is available, drape the cooler in a blanket, sleeping bag, or tarp. If you’re going to be in an extremely hot area, you might consider covering the cooler with a reflective material like aluminized bubble wrap (available at home improvement stores); you can even line your cooler with it for extra insulation.

Pre-chill all food that will be in the cooler.  Freeze bottles of water and non-carbonated drinks like boxed fruit juices – these will keep other foods cold as they thaw.   You can even freeze water in heavy-duty zip top bags.  Pack your cooler in reverse order, so that what you will use first is on top (sometimes called LIFO: Last In, First Out).  The less you have to dig around in the cooler, the better.

Pack as much of your food as possible into water-tight bags, so that it doesn’t get soggy as ice melts.  If you bring raw or frozen meats, make sure you have them well sealed so that no juices can leak into the ice or onto the other foods in the cooler.  Pack meat next to ice to keep it as cold as possible.

Pack the smallest possible containers of condiments, and once they have been opened, store them in the food cooler.  Do not leave food out in the heat any longer than necessary; put cold items away as soon as possible.  Food left out longer than two hours should be discarded; in extremely hot weather, shorten that time.

Uncut fruits with skin on do not need to be stored in your cooler, but wash all fruits and vegetables before leaving home so that you don’t need to do it in your camp kitchen.

Leave room in your cooler for plenty of ice, and plan to add new ice daily.  Block ice will last the longest.  Gel packs and blue ice may only last only a day, depending the temperature and how often the cooler is opened.  Water from melted ice is very cold, so don’t drain your cooler until you have new ice to replace the water you drain.

If you are not going to be able to purchase ice during a multi-day trip, you can consider dry ice.  Dry ice does not melt (it sublimates, or becomes gas), and it requires special handling.  It will freeze anything it is next to–your food, your cooler (which will crack), or your hands.  With careful use, dry ice can extend the safety of your perishables.

RAW MEATS AND SEAFOOD

Handling raw meat, poultry, and seafood is challenging in a kitchen with a refrigerator and sink; in a campsite those challenges are multiplied.  The same core principles apply–keep meats cold until use, avoid cross-contamination, and cook to the recommended temperature–it’s just harder to do in a camp kitchen.

As regular readers of Food Safety News are aware, raw meat may harbor bacteria that you don’t want to consume.  Raw beef can contain Salmonella or E. coli, raw chicken may be contaminated with Campylobacter or Salmonella, shellfish may contain Norovirus or Vibrio–the list is long and seems to get longer.  Protect yourself with proper cooking and cleanup of any raw meats and seafood.

Your meat thermometer is critical to your camp kitchen.  Whether you’re cooking over a fire or on a camp stove, make sure the internal temperature of your meat reaches USDA recommended temperatures (pdf).

If you do bring raw meat, consider cooking it for your first meal, so that you avoid the risk of your cooler failing to keep it at temperature.  Try to do as much prep as you can before you leave home.  By having your burgers pre-made and ready to go on the grill, you avoid raw meat touching bowls, utensils, cutting boards, plates, and tablecloths.

Freezing meat before your trip is tricky–if the meat is not fully thawed when you cook it, it is very possible that the portions of the meat will not reach the necessary temperature to kill any pathogens.

Be meticulous about cleaning up anything that comes into contact with the raw meat (including your hands) before you serve or eat.

It’s possible to avoid the cross contamination issue by cooking meat before you leave home and either eating it cold or bringing it to temperature in your camp kitchen.

As detailed in Part 1 of this series, it’s important to check with the local health department and/or department of fish and wildlife before you fish in an area, to see if there are any advisories about local seafood.

The USDA recommends that you scale, gut, and clean fin fish as soon as they’re caught.  Live fish can be kept on stringers or in live wells, as long as they have enough water and enough room to move and breathe.  It is further recommended that you wrap fish, both whole and cleaned, in water-tight plastic and store on ice.  It’s best to keep 3-4 inches of ice on the bottom of the cooler, then alternate layers of fish and ice.  As with all coolers, store your fish cooler out of the sun and cover with an insulator like a tarp or blanket.  Once you get the fish home, eat them within 1-2 days or freeze them. For top quality, use frozen fish within 3 to 6 months.

Crabs, lobsters, and other shellfish must be kept alive until cooked.  You can store them in live wells or out of water in a bushel or laundry basket under wet burlap or seaweed.  Crabs and lobsters are best eaten the day they’re caught. Live oysters should be cooked within 7-10 days.  Live mussels and clams should be cooked within 4-5 days.  Eating raw shellfish is not recommended; people with liver disorders or compromised immune systems are especially at risk.

CLEAN-UP

Hand-washing is an important part of staying clear of foodborne illness–it’s estimated that 25 to 40 percent of foodborne bacteria gets into our bodies via our hands.  Wash your hands thoroughly before preparing or eating meals or snacks, and after touching fish, bait, or any raw meat.  Make sure everyone cleans their hands after bathroom stops.  If water and soap are not available, use sanitizer and wipes in the interim, but wash hands upon returning to
your campsite or water source.

Wash pots, utensils, and dishes in water that has boiled and is still almost too hot to touch.  Rinse dishes in boiled/potable water, and dry with a clean towel or paper towels.  Make sure to dispose of any soapy water at least 200 feet from any natural water, whether it is fresh or salt.
Part I of this series contains more detail on water purification, outdoor sanitation, and foods to pack when away from ice and coolers.

Have a great trip!

Resources:

FDA Fact Sheet: Eating Outdoors, Handling Food Safely

USDA Fact Sheet:  Food Safety While Hiking, Camping, and Boating

FDA Fact Sheet: Seafood

Environmental Protection Agency Information on Seafood Contaminants

Don’t Get Sick: The Hidden Dangers of Camping and Hiking, by Buck Tilton and Rick Bennett.

FOOD:

Bacteria get into food a couple of ways: they enter during harvest or packaging, or they are present in the food when raw or uncooked.  You have three friends in planning food for a trip away from refrigeration: dryness, salt, and sugar.  All three make it hard for bacteria to grow, and therefore ideal for your purposes. (Sugar and salt hold tightly to moisture, and won’t share with microbes that need it to multiply.)

Dry: Dehydrated foods are popular not only because they’re light and compact, but also because the lack of moisture makes them practically immune from bacterial growth.  Low-moisture foods like dried meats, nuts, fruits, and cereals are great choices.  “Dry” cheeses like Romano or dry Monterey Jack are safe for several days without refrigeration.  Crackers are a better option than bread.

Salt:  Our pioneer ancestors knew a thing or two about the preservative qualities of salt.  Salted meats and fish are a good source of protein out in the wild, provided you have plenty of (safe) water to drink (more on that later).  Processed snacks like potato or corn chips are also safe from bacterial growth, and they can help replace salt you may sweat out on the trail.

Sugar: Dried fruits (again), candies, and honey are great energy sources that will remain safe after exposure to heat.

Raw and pre-cooked meats & seafood:  Carrying raw meat or poultry, or high-moisture cooked meats like deli meat is a recipe for illness.  The possible presence of E. coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Listeria is hard enough to deal with in a kitchen with refrigeration, a sink, running water, and plentiful cleaning products.  The same cross-contamination issues that we face at home are multiplied in the backcountry.  If you’re car camping with a cooler filled with ice, take all the same precautions that you would in a home kitchen, plus some.  Otherwise, leave the raw meats behind.  If you bring a meat sandwich for your first days’ lunch, carry it next to a water bottle filled with ice.  Then go with peanut butter and honey or crackers with dry salami or cheese.    

If you are lucky enough to be where you can legally harvest local seafood, there are still some safety precautions to take.  One, check to see if there are any seafood warnings in the area.  The local health department and/or department of fish and wildlife are important sources of information.  Two, cook it.  You don’t want Norovirus, hepatitis A, Salmonella or other bugs that may lurk in fish or shellfish, and thorough cooking will kill them.  (Cooking will not remove contaminants like mercury, which is showing up in fish around the country.  See number one, above.)  Three, make sure you clean your hands and all surfaces that the raw fish or shellfish touched.

Clean up: Wash utensils, bowls, and cookware in water that has come to a boil, and remains almost too hot to touch.  You can use sand to scrub, but a small piece of scrubbie will do the job better with less damage to your plastics.   Rinse in boiled water, and dry with a clean towel.

Leftovers in the backcountry are not a good idea. It is not generally possible to store them at the proper temperature to stop the growth of bacteria, and something that was fine for dinner could be illness-producing at breakfast.  

Clean hands: Experts tell us that 25-40 percent of foodborne illness is given an inroad by your hands.  Handwashing is important at home, and even more so in the wild.  Before you prepare a meal, heat a little water with your camp stove and wash your hands with biodegradable soap.  Dry your hands with a towel or bandana that is only used on clean hands.  (Dispose of your handwashing water, and anything with soap, at least 200 feet from fresh water.  The soap may be biodegradable, but it isn’t instantly so.)

Carry hand sanitizer and/or wipes, and thoroughly clean your hands before trail meals.   

WATER

Almost all the world’s water contains pathogens that can make you ill.  Even the clearest, most remote streams should be disinfected.  Here are a few methods:

Boiling: Not fast, but fairly cheap if you have the fuel, and no aftertaste.  Make sure that any water you use for cooking or clean up has come to a boil.  

Treating:  Chlorine and Iodine (classified as halogens) are both effective, and there are products sold in liquid and tablet form to disinfect water.  Effectiveness can be impacted by several factors, including using the proper amount, giving the product time to work, and accurately estimating the turbidity of the water you are disinfecting.  Read the product labels carefully, and start with fresh product each season.  (Note that although halogens are extremely effective against pathogens, protozoa like Giardia and cryptosporidium are much more resistant to them.  In the backcountry you may want to use more than one disinfecting process.)

Filtering: There is a very wide range of filtration products available on the market.  The finer the filtration, the more it will filter out.  Protozoa are the largest particles, followed by bacteria like strep, E. coli, and Staph.  Filters cannot physically remove viruses like hepatitis A, but many higher-end filters have iodine resins, which kill viruses as the water moves through.  Read product information carefully to see exactly what the filter you are considering will and will not do.  Even the highest-end product needs regular cleaning and filter changes.

UV Light: Ah, modern technology.  A small UV light that runs on batteries can rid a liter of water of viruses, protozoa, and bacteria in a couple of minutes.  It works by zapping microbe DNA, with no danger to humans.  It’s fairly compact and lightweight.  The downsides are that it’s pricey, and as with most technology, things can go wrong.  Whether it’s an equipment failure or human error (forgetting to replace batteries, for instance) it’s a good idea to carry a backup method.

And finally, clean your water bottles and hydration bladders regularly–they can harbor bacteria as well.  You can purchase cleaning kits for your wearable hydration packs, and/or use these home tips.

SANITATION

Proper outdoor/backcountry sanitation is vital to keeping wilderness areas pristine and free of human bacteria and trash.  It is also critical to backcountry food safety.  Every time you relieve yourself, clean your hands.   Store your trowel in a plastic bag, and every time you use it, clean your hands.  If you share food, portion it to your travel companions rather than having them dip their (potentially) grubby mitts into your trail mix.  

AND FINALLY

While they’re eating your trail mix, your pals may insist that they don’t follow such careful practices, and have never gotten sick.&nbs
p; (They may not be taking incubation times into account, but why quibble.)  My answer is that I wear a seat belt every time I get into a car not because I expect to be in an accident, but because the possibility exists.  Being careful about food safety and cleanliness can be the difference between a great trip and a wretched one.  

Make yours great.

Resources:

Don’t Get Sick: The Hidden Dangers of Camping and Hiking, by Buck Tilton and Rick Bennett.   A wealth of valuable information for $6.95, put out by the Mountaineers

Environmental Protection Agency Information on Seafood Contaminants

USDA Fact Sheet:  Food Safety While Hiking, Camping, and Boating

Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics

The forum was co-presented by Dr. David Gombas, Senior VP of Food Safety and Technology at United Fresh Produce Association in Washington, DC, and Adam Lytch of L & M Companies of Raleigh, NC.  Gombas began the event with some hard truths: that a produce recall can happen to anyone at any time, and that some businesses–especially smaller companies–that are involved in recalls don’t survive the process.   He quickly listed important steps that growers should take to protect themselves in case of a product recall:

Be prepared: Make sure you have accurate records for every lot you sell.  Have a plan in place, and a recall team trained and ready to go.  Make sure that one of those people is a communications person–either in-house or hired as needed–who can craft messages and communicate them swiftly and consistently to the FDA, media, customers, and consumers.

Get training: Make sure management and your recall team is trained in how to respond to a product recall.

Practice: Training isn’t enough – you have to actually go through the process when not under the pressure of an actual recall.

Resources: Know whom to turn to for what you need.  You can get help with communications, interpreting the testing data, and negotiating a stressful and complex process.

Insurance:  Investigate recall insurance.  It isn’t cheap, but it can save your company.  Recalls are not covered by basic liability insurance.

He then turned the microphone over to Adam Lytch of L & M Companies to share first-hand experience with having to recall a product.  In May 2009 the FDA sampled cantaloupe from the field of an outside grower used by L & M.  The samples were taken from a field bin, and had not yet been put thorough L & M’s chlorine wash process.  From the 20 melons sampled, one came back positive for Salmonella, initiating a Class I recall of product from three states.  There were never any illnesses associated with the product.

Lytch shared his experience with the group, including communicating with the FDA, the preparations and training they had in place, proactive steps they took, and how they responded to wholesale customers, retailers, and consumers.  He described how they set up a hotline and issued a press release, while simultaneously having additional testing done at the field and on product.  No additional Salmonella was detected on the farm, in the water, or on other product, but L & M decided to destroy the entire lot, just to be sure.

Although it was an extremely difficult time for the company, Lytch said that they wanted to share their experience to inform and help educate other growers.

In the Q & A section that followed, growers in the audience expressed surprise that the FDA could initiate a recall based on produce that had yet not gone through washing or disinfecting steps it would pass through before sale to the public, but both Lytch and Gombas assured them that it could.  

“Chlorine baths are not required, and are not considered a ‘kill step’,” said Gombas.  “Produce is considered ready to eat as soon as it is harvested.”

Beth Bland, Food Safety Coordinator for the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Association, said that the food safety education track was an annual part of the conference.  She added that the organization holds food safety education workshops throughout the year.