Summertime Food Safety

The number of people engaging in outdoor events, including food-related activities, goes up in the summer. So too does the number of people who get sick from food poisoning. Pregnant women and young children are among those at highest risk for foodborne illnesses, making safe food handling particularly important for them.

Check out the resources below that WIC staff can use to educate participants on food safety to help reduce their risk of foodborne illness.

Outdoor Activity-Specific Resources

• Safe Food Handling and Preparation Consumer Fact Sheets from the Food Safety and Inspection Service
• Seven Super Steps to Safe Food in the Summer from the Partnership for Food Safety Education
• Summer and Vacation food safety tips for families, and an infographic on the Food Safety by Events and Seasons webpage from Foodsafety.gov (also available in Spanish)
• Handling Food Safely While Eating Outdoors from FDA (link to printable PDF in Spanish at the top of the page) 
• How to Grill Safely from CDC (also available in Spanish)
   

Severe Weather Specific Resources

• Consumer's Guide to Food Safety: Severe Storms and Hurricanes from USDA
• Keep Your Food Safe During Emergencies: Power Outages, Floods & Fires from USDA

General Food Safety Resources 

• Start at the Store: 7 Ways to Prevent Foodborne Illness (video)
• 4 Steps to Food Safety
• Food Safety for Children and Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women
• WIC Human Milk Storage Guidelines
• Food Safety in Your Kitchen (some information available in Spanish)
• Food Recalls and Outbreaks
• Long-Term Effects of Foodborne Illness

Also available are CDC social media graphics (also available in Spanish) and webinars hosted by the Partnership for Food Safety Education, such as Keeping Babies & Toddlers Safe from Foodborne Illness, Food Safety for the Reel World, and Health at Risk: Long-Term Health Effects of Foodborne Illness (some webinars offer CEU’s).

Have a food safety question? Ask USDA is here to help.