Outdoor food prep can be risky.

• Position: Your Life - How to prevent meat contamination - Brief Article

Summer--even this late in the season--means hamburgers and hot dogs sizzling on the grill. It also offers challenges in safe food preparation and storage. According to a recent national survey, 56% of outdoor chefs do not know the proper temperature to grill meats to, ensuring they are cooked thoroughly, in addition, 33% leave perishables outside, unrefrigerated in hot weather, for more than two hours, creating a perfect environment for bacterial growth.

Lona Sandon, a registered dietitian and assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Tex as Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, offers the following summer food safety tips:

* Make sure grilled meats are cooked to at least...