But it can also bring with it a rise in foodborne illnesses such as salmonella, campylobacter and E. coli, especially if food is left out longer, hands aren’t adequately washed and utensils are used on both raw meat and again to slice up fruit and vegetables.

“Of course we want people to have fun barbecuing and having outdoor meals, but people really need to take food poisoning seriously because sometimes it can be a mild illness, but other times it can be fatal,” said Dr. Christopher Valentine, medical director for Optum Care Utah.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year, approximately 48 million people, or 1 in 6, in the United States contract a foodborne illness. Of those, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die. And while many people might blame an undercooked hamburger, there are multiple foods that can be the cause, such as raw fruits and vegetables, salad dressings, potato salad, mashed potatoes, poultry and pork.

“We ultimately have to take responsibility for ourselves and know what we’re eating and hopefully know where it’s coming from,” Valentine said. “Some of our foods have traveled to us from many miles, and may have picked up contaminants along the way, so it’s always good to wash your food properly and follow the best possible practices.”

Those practices include washing your hands before and after you prepare food, not using the same cutting board for raw meat and other foods, cooking foods to the appropriate temperature and getting it put away before it starts accumulating toxins.

“We have different colors of cutting boards at our house,” Valentine said. “One color is for preparing meat, another color is for cutting up vegetables and so forth. You never want to cross contaminate.”

Valentine said just looking at the inside of the meat to make sure it’s no longer pink is not a good enough indicator as to whether or not the food is safe to eat.

“Use a meat thermometer,” he said. “Cook ground beef up to 160 degrees, poultry to 165 and fish, veal and pork up to 145, and then make sure you are refrigerating any leftovers within two hours. If it’s above 90 degrees outside, I would get it in the refrigerator within one hour.”

Symptoms of food poisoning can include vomiting, bloody or nonbloody diarrhea, pain in the abdomen and fever. Valentine said if you are pregnant or have bloody diarrhea, are immunocompromised, very young or very old, you should seek medical attention right away.

“Sometimes you need some medical assistance, especially when you can’t keep anything down and you start to get dehydrated,” he said. “If you’re dizzy, have a fever above 102, have been sick longer than three days or you’re not urinating, get medical attention right away. It’s best not to take any chances and how you are treated really depends on the pathogen that’s making you sick.”

Valentine said it’s also important for parents to teach their children good cooking hygiene.

“Make sure you’re modeling good behavior and teach them all of those best practices so they understand the risks,” he said. “Sometimes foodborne illnesses can hit kids really hard, so we need to do what we can to reduce our risk and educate ourselves while still having a good time.”