What should be said about food safety to this audience of seasoned home cooks?  Got to say something.  Well, the first two of three bottom lines are that bacteria need temperature and time to grow and give off toxins.  So, keep these numbers in mind:

· The “danger zone” wherein bacteria grow rapidly is 40ºF to 140ºF.
· In four hours of accumulated time, in the danger zone, rapid growth of bacteria may occur.

Apply these data to a potato salad scenario for a charity affair and we have the following:
 

Event	Time the mayo is in the Danger Zone
Mayo is taken out of the fridge, mixed with Dijon mustard, diced olives, pickles, onions, lardons of bacon and whatever and set aside.	20 minutes
Potatoes are then peeled, cubed, boiled and set aside to cool.	20 minutes
The eggs are hard boiled and set aside to cool and be sliced.	20 minutes
The potatoes and eggs are added to the mayo.
The salad—all ingredients are now at ambient temperature, say 70ºF—is placed in the fridge to await the trip to the charity event. It never cools to 40ºF.	60 minutes
The salad is loaded into the car and makes the trip to the charity event where it is placed on the serving table just in time for the buffet—a two-hour affair.	60 minutes
There is a good crowd, but plenty of potato salad for the late arrivals.	120 minutes

Add up the time in the danger zone and we get 5 hours.  The late diners are at risk from the potato salad!

The third bottom line is “cross contamination”—that is, the transfer of harmful microorganisms from one item of food to another by means of surface contact (knives, boards and hands) or storage and thawing in contact with other food items.  The villain here is the live pathogenic salmonella, which is the source of most frequently reported foodborne infections. The heroes are space, soap, water and cooking temperatures.  Prepare and store raw meat separate from other products, wash knives, steels, boards and hands with soap and hot water upon completion and cook meat products to temperatures recommended by the USDA—poultry for sure (165ºF).

Some food inspection authorities, Fairfax County in Virginia for one, now require that a food service manager be present at all food service venues—including charity, little league cookouts and the like.  Fairfax has relaxed the requirement for charity venues by approving, for non-professionals, a very abbreviated course on food safety. 

Restaurants are required to have a certified food service manager on the premise at all times.  In my view, every foodhandler on the payroll for six months should be certified.