Tips for food safety for outdoor events

With summer in full swing and outdoor barbeques part of the weekly fare, an expert with University of Tennessee Extension reminds consumers that food safety can make or break an outdoor activity.

“Whether it’s a picnic at the park, camping in the mountains, or living on the boat, food is often a common denominator for fun,” said Janie Burney, a professor of family and consumer sciences. Burney says these simple rules can keep foodborne pathogens from ruining your summer:

▪ Plan ahead. If you are traveling with perishable food, place it in a cooler with ice or freezer packs.

▪ Pack safely. Pack perishable foods directly from the refrigerator or freezer into the cooler. Be sure to keep raw meat and poultry wrapped separately from cooked foods and ready-to-eat foods such as fruit or vegetables. If the cooler is only partially filled, pack the remaining space with more ice. Keep the cooler in an air-conditioned area of your vehicle, rather than in a hot trunk. Limit the amount of times the cooler is opened.

▪ When outdoors, keep the cooler in a shady spot and cover it with a light-colored blanket or tarp.

▪ When camping, boating or picnicking, take along only the amount of food that can be used. Avoid leftovers.

▪ Don’t drink water from streams and rivers. Bring bottled water.

▪ Keep hands and all utensils clean when preparing food. Use disposable towelettes to clean hands.

▪ When preparing food, never use the same dish for raw meats and foods that will not be cooked.

 

▪ Don’t let perishable food sit out while swimming or fishing or during other activities. If the temperature is above 90º F, food is not safe to sit out longer than one hour (two hours at room temperature).

Burney also reminds us that safe food habits also incorporate these simple rules:

▪ Frozen food should be thawed in the refrigerator.

▪ Do not put spoons into food after you have tasted food from that same spoon.

▪ Keep hot food hot, and cold foods cold.

▪ Encourage children to wash their hands after playing with pets, playing outside, going to the bathroom, coughing or wiping their nose and certainly before touching food.

 

If your outdoor fun includes grilling hamburgers, Burney recommends you play it safe by handling raw ground beef carefully. “First, be sure you keep the meat cold (40º F or less) until it is cooked,” she says. “Second, cook ground beef to a safe temperature of 160º F so that bacteria such as E. coli are killed. E. coli can cause severe stomach cramps, diarrhea (often bloody), and vomiting. Some infections are mild while others are life threatening. Young children, older adults and individuals with weakened immune systems are more likely than others to develop severe complications,” Burney said.

“Third, when deciding when your hamburgers are cooked enough, use a thermometer. You cannot tell by the color,” Burney cautions. She recommends you insert the tip of the thermometer into the side of the burgers to check that the temperature as reached 160º F.

“You should also clean your hands and anything that comes in contact with the raw meat thoroughly with soap and water so that you do not cross-contaminate other foods,” Burney said.  She also notes that it is best not to rely solely on hand sanitizers.

 

In the event of a ground beef recall, return your meat to the store for an exchange or dispose of it, she said. Don’t take chances—when in doubt, throw it out!

 

For more information, contact your local county UT Extension family and consumer sciences agent.

UT Extension provides a gateway to the University of Tennessee as the outreach unit of the UT Institute of Agriculture. With an office in every Tennessee county, UT Extension delivers educational programs and research-based information to citizens throughout the state. In cooperation with Tennessee State University, UT Extension works with farmers, families, youth and communities to improve lives by addressing problems and issues at the local, state and national levels.

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Contact:

Dr. Janie Burney, UT Family and Consumer Sciences, 865-974-7402, jburney@utk.edu

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Getting Health Insurance Coverage After College

In addition to finding a job and housing college graduates who were covered by their university’s student health insurance may also need to replace that coverage. Financial planners point out that obtaining health insurance is basic to being able to budget and manage money responsibly. “Most young people think of health insurance as something that allows you to pay for treatment for an illness or accident,” says Dr. Dena Wise, Professor and Consumer Economics Specialist with UT Extension. “What they may not realize is that health insurance is a necessary financial management tool as well. Health insurance makes health care costs predictable and controllable so you can actually plan for them in your budget rather than having each medical event or issue become a financial emergency.” UT health insurance experts offer the following advice to new graduates.

For graduates who live in Tennessee, there are three basic options for health insurance after college: (1) continuing to be covered on a parent’s traditional plan, (2) purchasing a traditional plan through a private insurer, or (3) purchasing a catastrophic health plan.

Provisions of the Affordable Care Act made it possible for young people, regardless of whether they are students or living independently, to remain on their parent’s insurance policy until their 26^th birthday. Remaining on a parent’s plan is often a more economical way to maintain coverage and it’s especially helpful if the new graduate has not yet landed a job with health insurance benefits. Even if the graduate’s new job offers health insurance, they can still opt for continuing coverage under the parent’s policy. New employees should be aware, however, that if they initially decline employee coverage, they may pay a sizable penalty if they decide to enroll in employee coverage at a later time.

 If graduates have a job that offers employee health insurance coverage, it generally offers the next-best alternative to remaining on a parent’s policy. Particularly if the graduate only needs individual—rather than family—coverage, premiums may be affordable.

If an employer’s health insurance plan is not available, a graduate may be able to find private insurance through the through the Health Insurance Marketplace. Graduates whose student health plan is ending may qualify for a Special Enrollment Period to sign up for private insurance or evaluate other options.

If they’re under 30, graduates can purchase a catastrophic health plan through the Marketplace. The catastrophic plan’s high deductible makes it a good plan only for those whose health is good enough to expect they would just need basic preventive care, which is covered without the deductible applying. The low premiums make it affordable, and even though the high deductible may be a burden in the case of a serious medical issue or emergency, it protects a young person’s future earnings from very large medical costs or debt.

Contact:               Dena Wise, 865 974-8198, dkwise@utk.edu

Understanding Your New Health Insurance

After the hoopla about the implementation of the Affordable Care Act last winter, many people never want to think about health insurance again. But others who have health insurance for the first time are just learning to use their new policies and services. In case you are in the latter category, you may still be confused by the health insurance landscape, which can be very complex.

Health insurance is essentially a contract between you and an insurance company designed to protect you from health care expenses exceeding what you might be able to pay out of your pocket. In the contract, the health insurance company specifies the percentages or amounts of charges they will pay and how much will be your responsibility for different health care services.

These are some of the terms and definitions associated with health insurance:

• The amount the insurance company charges you for a policy is called the premium. The premium is determined by the level of coverage you have—generally, the more medical expenses that are covered by the insurance company, the higher the premium. (The Affordable Care Act requires that all policies now cover at least 60 percent of expenses.)
• The deductible is the amount that you must pay for expenses other than preventive services each policy year before any insurance coverage kicks in. The Affordable Care Act designates which basic preventive services are covered by your premium with no deductible. Preventive services may include annual physicals, immunizations and screenings that can keep you from getting sick.
• For every medical service not a part of your preventive care, you will be charged a co-pay (co-payment). A co-pay is a fixed fee (such as $15) that you are asked to pay, usually at the time of service. The co-pay is subtracted from the amount filed with your insurance company. The amount may vary from doctor to doctor.
• Coinsurance is the percent of the cost of covered health care services paid by consumers. The level of coverage you have determines your coinsurance. For example, your coinsurance at different levels might be 10, 20, 30 or 40 percent. Obviously, a policy with 10 percent coinsurance would have a higher premium than a policy with 40 percent coinsurance.
• The Affordable Care Act places a cap, or limit, on your out-of-pocket expenses, currently at $6,350 for one person and $12,700 for a family. If you reach that amount, then deductibles and coinsurance will no longer be charged, although you will continue to pay co-payments.
• A claim is a request for payment that a consumer or healthcare provider submits to the health insurance company for items or services rendered.  For example, once you have completed a doctor’s appointment, the doctor’s office will submit the information to your health insurance company to process (if the doctor is an out of network provider you may be responsible for submitting the paperwork to the insurance company yourself).  The health insurance company will make a determination and send payment to your healthcare provider if applicable.  The insurance company will also send a claim statement to you for your records explaining what services were covered.
• An allowed amount is the maximum amount allowed to be paid for covered health services by a health insurance company.  This may also be called “eligible expense,” “payment allowance,” or “negotiated rate.”  In most cases your doctor will accept the allowed (maximum) amount paid by the health insurance company as ‘paid in full’ and you will not be responsible for the difference.
• Balance billing is when the provider bills the consumer for the difference between the provider’s charge and the amount allowed by the health plan.  For example, if your doctor does not accept the maximum allowed then you may receive a bill from them charging you the difference between the doctor’s charge and the maximum allowed by your health insurance company.  You will then be responsible for making this payment.

You will find a more complete glossary of health insurance terms at Https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/ . The better you understand your health insurance, the more you can benefit.

Barbara Metzger and Dena Wise