Charcoal Grills and CO Poisoning
Heat It Up!
According to the Food Marketing Institute, only two percent of consumers regularly use a food thermometer when cooking ground meat—a practice that can have dangerous results. E. coli poisoning in particular can be especially dangerous to young children because it can trigger hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), which can cause acute kidney failure.
Whether you’re cooking on the grill or with your oven, it is crucial that you use a meat thermometer to make sure your food has reached a safe internal temperature.
The US Department of Agriculture recommends the following temperatures for cooked food:
- Hamburgers and raw sausages should be cooked to 160º F
- Large cuts of beef, lamb, veal steaks, and roasts may be cooked to 145º F for medium rare or to 160º F for medium.
- Ground poultry should be cooked to 165° F and poultry breasts to 170° F.
- Fish should be opaque and flake easily.
Parents of small children need to keep a close eye on what their toddlers are eating, especially in group settings where little ones may get food from tables or from other children, and where kids are more likely to be running around and have food lodge in the throat. Hot dogs—a popular item at cookouts—are easily choked on when cut into bite-sized pieces. If you’re going to serve a hot dog to your toddler, cut it lengthwise and then slice into quarter-inch pieces.
Similarly, food such as raw carrots, whole grapes and some berries, chunks of cheese, popcorn, raisins, and many types of candy are choking hazards for young children. Either cut these foods into very small pieces or don’t serve them at all.
According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), approximately 20 deaths from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning and more than 300 emergency room-treated injuries from CO poisoning are attributed to improper use of charcoal grills each year. Burning charcoal produces carbon monoxide, an odorless, colorless gas that can accumulate to toxic levels in poorly ventilated areas where the CO is unable to escape. Fetuses and infants are among those especially susceptible to CO poisoning.