Summer means cookouts, picnics and backyard barbecues. But a generous spread of food eaten outside raises some serious health questions. Nobody wants food poisoning – or to make their guests sick. But how do you know when you’ve kept the potato salad or fruit medley out too long?
As a professor and chair of the Food Science and Human Nutrition program at Iowa State University, I’ll answer those questions by starting with the basics of food safety.
Two general classes of food-related microorganisms exist. Pathogenic organisms make you sick. Other types of organisms make food look, smell and taste bad – in other words, they make food spoil.
