food safety

With all the stories about eggs in the news, you probably know the basics for avoiding salmonella poisoning: Don't eat runny eggs, wash utensils and counter tops after use, and avoid the billion or so eggs the Food and Drug Administration has recalled.

But that's not the complete story for playing it safe around eggs. Here are seven things you might not know about cooking eggs safely:

• Cook casseroles and other dishes containing eggs to 160 degrees. Use a food thermometer to be sure.

• Eat hard-cooked eggs within one week of cooking

• If you refrigerate quiches or soufflés, reheat them to 165 degrees before serving.

• Divide hot egg dishes into shallow containers before refrigerating.

• Bake meringue-topped pies at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.

• Use a cooked egg-milk mixture or pasteurized egg produces for homemade ice cream (or choose a recipe that doesn't use eggs).

• For recipes that call for raw eggs, heat the eggs in one of the recipe's other liquid ingredients to 160 degrees before adding them.

For more on egg safety, visit the FDA's consumer egg safety site.

Here's what we're reading this week at Everwell:

Are We Swimming in Chemicals?
What's swimming in the pool with you this summer? Perhaps a dangerous concoction of chemicals that occur when chlorine mixes with sweat and urine. Before you take a dip, consider what environmental engineer Ernest R. Blatchley III told NPR's Science Friday.

"Best Place to Live" Also Among Healthiest
What does it take to top Money magazine's Best Places to Live ranking? Eden Prairie, Minnesota has jobs and a family-friendly community. But the magazine also gave a shout out to the town's healthy features like 17 lakes, gently rolling hills, year-round swimming and ice skating--and its "125 miles of running, hiking, and biking trails."

Waiter: There's a Food-Borne Illness in My Salsa
New data from the Centers for Disease Control has indicted one of America's favorite appetizers: Salsa. Apparently 1 in 25 food-borne illnesses are caused by salsa or guacamole.

ED Drug Takers Have Higher Rates of STDs
Men on erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra maybe having more unsafe sex than men who don't take the drugs, according to a new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine. They're at an especially higher risk for contracting HIV and chlamydia, reports the New York Times.

Memorial Day officially kicks off the grilling season in our house. This is no small event: Each year we cart out special cuts of meat -- wild Alaska salmon, if we can get it, beef tenderloin, racks of ribs -- along with veggie kabobs and corn cobs still in their husks. Then we fire up the grill and enjoy the outdoors.

Though we now take grilling safety seriously, this wasn't always the case. A few years ago, I spent six weeks having a large burn wound debrided because a propane grill fire got out of hand. A leak in one of the propane hoses caught fire and ignited a nearby bottle of lighter fluid. (Why the lighter fluid was in the cabinet below is still a mystery. Never store flammable materials near a grill.) As I was putting out the fire, flaming lighter fluid splashed up my leg and scorched six inches of my shin.

The irony: I volunteered as a firefighter for six years, taking more than 250 hours worth of training classes including intense study of propane fires. Moral: No amount of training or professional experience can compensate for sheer stupidity--although a good safety plan can help reduce the chances you'll end up getting burned.

Here are five ways you can grill safely this summer:

1. Grill in a safe location. Make sure your grill is located well away from your home, eaves, deck railings and tree branches. Never leave your grill unattended, and keep the pets and kids away.

2. Before you use your grill, make sure it's in good working order. In the case of propane grills, make sure you check all connections and ensure that none of hoses are leaking. Here's how.

3. Keep a fire extinguisher nearby. What kind should you get? We keep a class A-B large extinguisher on hand. The class means it can put out both ordinary materials like wood (class A) and flammable liquids (class B) like grease and gasoline.

If you already have a fire extinguisher, make sure it's still working. Most extinguishers should be replaced or serviced every five years depending on the model. Here's more on how to tell if your fire extinguisher needs to be replaced.

4. For charcoal, use only lighter fluid designed for charcoal. And don't add flammable liquids once the fire is going; doing so can cause a major flare up, which can lead to injuries.

5. Clean your grill. That fat and grease buildup in the trays and surfaces beneath the grill can cause a flare up. (Download a complete grilling safety checklist from the National Fire Protection Association here.)

Finally, make sure the food you cook won't make your family sick. Here are expert tips on keeping your food safe while you grill

Happy Memorial Day and happy grilling.

Related Links:
Ready to light up your grill? Before you start, make sure your grill's in working order. Here's how.

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Proper grilling techniques can help prevent harmful bacteria and cancer-causing chemicals in food.

Learn which fruits and veggies are worth the organic price tag—and which ones have low pesticide levels even from conventional growers.

Can you drink milk a week after the sell-by date? What's the germiest item in your kitchen and how do you clean it? Test your food safety knowledge with our Everwell Challenge.