Foodborne illnesses increase with warmer weather

The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency has issued a media release regarding food-handling measures for picnic meals.
Warmer weather provides a perfect environment for bacteria and other pathogens in food to multiply rapidly and cause foodborne illness, agency officials said.
According to Paul Andriacchi, Environmental Health Director for the tri-county agency, many summer recipes call for preparing perishable foods such as meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, mayonnaise, salad dressings and fresh fruits.
Improper cleaning, prepping and storage of these food items, either alone or in combination, as in a potato salad recipe, can quickly lead to foodborne illness outbreaks.