stay healthy in the heat

Hot weather, dodgy BBQ skills and bug-laden salads could spell disaster for your tum. It’s Dr C to the rescue!

It’s the time of year where all of I our usual food rules go out the window: food is either burnt to a cinder or under-cooked. our suspect cooking skills see cases of food poisoning almost double during the summer months, so if you want to avoid tummy trouble here are my golden rules…

WASH SALADS

An e. coli breakout has killed two and infected more than 150 people in the uk this summer, and experts believe the source could be unwashed salad leaves. Symptoms include bloody diarrhoea, stomach cramps and occasionally fever. the advice is to thoroughly wash leaves, unless you buy “washed and ready to eat,” but I would still give those leaves a quick rinse just to be sure. In fact you should wash anything you’re going to eat raw because while it can’t eliminate bugs completely, it reduces your risk of infection. e. coli aside, think about all the hands that have touched fruit and veg before you buy it – a quick rinse takes seconds but could save your life. Never wash raw meat, though – it can splash dangerous bugs on to your hands, clothes and utensils.

don’t eat RARE meat

You can eat a mediumrare steak in a restaurant, but you can’t have a rare burger or undercooked sausage at a barbecue. With something like a steak, most bugs live on the surface of the raw meat; but when it’s minced to make a burger or a sausage the bacteria is then spread all the way through. All meats need to be steaming hot, with no pink meat inside. turn it regularly, move it around the grill and remember that things tend to take longer to cook on disposable barbecues. cut food open to check before eating or serving to someone else.

use different utensils

people often prod raw meat with a skewer, then use the same skewer to prod something cooked, which spreads bacteria. the other mistake people make is using the same plate or board for raw meat and cooked. use different utensils, plates and boards and wash your hands after handling raw meat. the BBQ chef is often having a beer while at the grill and may not be paying full attention – but the potential tummy bugs can be really nasty and last for days. And if you’re very young, elderly or pregnant they

can make you very ill indeed.

PRE-COOK meat

I think it’s a great idea to precook things like chicken and sausages in the oven, then just finish it off on the barbecue. So rather than dishing out food either burnt or raw, serve it perfectly cooked and let the barbecue simply be for effect! Get meat out of the fridge immediately before cooking – don’t let it sit around. A good rule of thumb at

a barbecue is to eat hot food while it’s hot and cold food while it’s cold. Cooking food kills bugs, but that effect doesn’t last forever so I wouldn’t eat anything that’s been left hanging around in the hot sun for more than an hour.

AVOID OVERINDULGING

People are proven to eat three times as much as they would at any other meal when at a barbecue. When else would you order three burgers, two hot dogs, a couple of drumsticks, a kebab, some potato salad, a bit of couscous, chips and dips and a few lettuce leaves? If you’re dieting, just be aware that you’ll be surrounded by temptation, plus you’ll probably be drinking so willpower is likely to go out the window. Rather than having to force yourself to be controlled, try to eat a light breakfast beforehand and then load up on salad at the barbecue so you get fuller on roughage. If you’re feeling bloated and uncomfortable after overindulging, peppermint oil, a mint tea and a walk will all help you to feel more comfortable.

KEEP PICNIC FOOD COOL

Picnics tend to include things like cold meats, pâtés and dips, which shouldn’t be sitting in a baking-hot car for ages, then left out in the sun – it creates a breeding ground for bugs. Listeria is a nasty tummy bug associated with things like pâtés and salads and can be very dangerous for pregnant women, and unpleasant for the rest of us. Keep picnic food cool, and if it hasn’t been eaten and left out in the sun for ages, chuck it away – don’t take it home to have later. In theory, flies can spread disease because they sit on nasty things, then sit on your sandwich, but if you’ve swatted one away within seconds it should be fine. Wasps are far more likely to ruin your picnic!

HYDRATE YOURSELF

Dehydration and sunstroke are a serious risk if you’re out in the sun boozing all day, so for every boozy drink try to have a soft one as well. Also get some shade while you eat and wear sunscreen and a hat.