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Heartburn and Picnic Food Safety

You may have heartburn, but you can still have your picnic and eat it, too.

By Jenny Stamos WebMD Feature

Reviewed By Brunilda  Nazario, MD

Choosing safe foods at picnics can be doubly difficult for heartburn sufferers. First there's the universal issue for everyone: watching out for spoiled food. Then, there's the challenge that's yours alone -- choosing a menu that won't aggravate your heartburn symptoms. It's almost enough to make you give up and send your regrets to the party -- or go anyway, eat what you want, and suffer the consequences.

But there's a third option: Follow our tips for heartburn-friendly foods that are also safe for outdoor eating, and you can have a risk-free, healthy picnic. Here, WebMD's top tips for picnic food safety.

Picnic Food Safety Tip No.1: Carefully Prep the Food

The first rule in food safety is to thoroughly rinse all fresh fruits and vegetables under running tap water, then blot dry with a clean towel or paper towel, says Shelley Feist, executive director of the Partnership for Food Safety Education (PFSE).

Be extra careful if your picnic guest list includes pregnant women, young children, older adults, or someone with a weakened immune system. Each of these guests has a higher risk of developing a serious food-borne illness, Feist tells WebMD.

Picnic Food Safety Tip No. 2: Pack Food Carefully

When it comes to food safety, the cardinal rule is to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold. If you're taking food for a ride in summer-warm weather, that means a good insulated cooler with ice packs or dry ice, says Pat Baird, MA, RD, FADA, board member of the National Heartburn Alliance and author of Be Good to Your Gut.

Keep heat and air from spoiling your precious picnic cargo by packing food in airtight containers to avoid breakage or unwrapping along the way, Baird tells WebMD. And take only the amount of food you think you'll need -- that way you may lower the risk of bringing potentially spoiled food back home with you. And keep your cooler away from the hot trunk. Instead, let it travel up front with you, where your vehicle is most likely cool and air-conditioned.

Picnic Food Safety Tip No. 3: Cut the Fat

Fatty foods can wreak havoc on those prone to heartburn, so do your body a favor: swap high-fat mayonnaise for low-fat, or halve it with low-fat or fat-free yogurt, Baird says.

And avoid sausages and hot dogs, or choose low-fat alternatives, says Ruth Frechman, MA, RD, a Los Angeles-based registered dietitian, and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association (ADA). Other BBQ options include lower-fat beef like flank steak, turkey burgers, or chicken breasts.

Ribs, brats, hot dogs, and juicy burgers with cheese may be more likely to trigger heartburn than other, leaner choices, says Sue Moores, MS, RD, a registered dietitian in Minnesota, and a spokeswoman for the ADA. An even better picnic food safety option? Skip easily spoiled foods like mayonnaise completely by making light pasta salads, rice salad, and bean salads mixed with olive oil, Moores says. Poultry topped with sliced cucumbers and a mild hummus can be a nice change of pace, too.

Picnic Food Safety Tip No. 4: Keep Clean

The best case scenario, of course, is to wash your hands for 20 seconds in hot soapy water, says Maria Tymrak, RD, MPH, a public health nutritionist for the Arizona Department of Health Services. But if running water isn't available where you'll be picnicking, bring along alcohol-based disposable hand wipes or antibacterial hand cleanser.

Remember to clean your hands before and after handling picnic food, especially meat. Start by scrubbing the grill carefully with hot soapy water before you begin cooking, Frechman says. "Keep meat separate from other foods to prevent cross-contamination. And keep a food thermometer handy -- undercooked meats could spell bacterial disaster. Hamburgers should be cooked to 160 degrees and chicken to 170 degrees," she tells WebMD.

Picnic Food Safety Tip No. 5: Get Grilling

Leaving perishable foods like meat at room temperature for too long can cause bacteria to grow and produce heat-resistant toxins that can cause food-borne illness, says Nelda Mercer, MS, RD, FADA, a registered dietitian in Ann Arbor, Mich. Even cooking won't necessarily destroy these toxins.

Of course, room temperature is nothing compared to outdoor summer heat. The PFSE recommends a two-hour limit for letting food, cooked or not, sit outside on summer days. When it's especially stifling (90 degrees or hotter), that limit goes down to just one hour. The lesson? When it comes to picnicking, skip straight to cooking, and then whisk food out of the heat as soon as you've had your fill. Keep cold foods cold by covering your cooler with a blanket and protecting it from direct sunlight.

Picnic Food Safety Tip No. 6: Pack Heartburn-Friendly Alternatives

Aside from fatty foods, the most common heartburn triggers include red wine, caffeinated drinks, acidic foods like tomato-based products, and acidic drinks like orange or grapefruit juice, gastroenterologist William D. Chey, MD, director of the Gastrointestinal Physiology Laboratory at the University of Michigan Health System, tells WebMD. Spicy foods and carbonated beverages can also be a problem for some.

What to do? Choose drinks with less potential for problems, Moores says. Smart picks include water, decaf iced tea, or iced herbal tea. Even some varieties of lemonade, the quintessential picnic drink, are fine for heartburn patients, says Moore. Though some are pretty "citrusy" and may aggravate your heartburn, others are relatively mild.

Picnic Food Safety Tip No. 7: Choose Foods That Won't Spoil Quickly

Instead of hard-to-keep-frozen foods like ice cream that often trigger heartburn anyway, choose fat-free cookies, baked potato chips, or candy like jelly beans or red licorice.

"The foods most prone to bacterial contamination are those that contain protein," says Frechman, so be especially careful with meat and creamy foods. For extra picnic food safety, put cold foods in bowls of ice, she says. And don't forget the healthy foods of course, like raw or grilled vegetables, says Baird. (Just keep an eye on how long veggie dips sit out in the sunshine.)

Picnic Food Safety Tip No. 8: Eat Light and Stay Upright

Another smart way to steer clear of heartburn is to eat small amounts of food at a time, Moores says, nibbling a bit from each option as opposed to saving up for one gigantic meal. After eating, help keep food from backing up into the esophagus by taking a slow, relaxing walk, or practicing some other calming activity that keeps your body sitting or standing upright, she says.

With tips like these, you're sure to enjoy a food-safe picnic -- heartburn-free. Now if only there was something you could do about those pesky ants.

Published May 2007.

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SOURCES: Pat Baird, MA, RD, FADA; board member of the National Heartburn Alliance; author, Be Good to Your Gut. Partnership for Food Safety Education: "On the Road Again... Summer Travel and Picnics." National Heartburn Alliance: "Stop and Select." Jill Sklar, co-author, Eating for Acid Reflux. Maria Tymrak, RD, MPH, public health nutritionist, Arizona Department of Health Services. Shelley Feist, executive director of the Partnership for Food Safety Education; creator of the Fight BAC! food safety campaign (fightbac.org). Nelda Mercer, MS, RD, FADA; registered dietitian, Ann Arbor, Mich. William D. Chey, MD, gastroenterologist; director, Gastrointestinal Physiology Laboratory, University of Michigan Health System. Ruth Frechman, MA, RD, registered dietitian; spokeswoman, American Dietetic Association. Sue Moores, MS, RD, registered dietitian, Minnesota; spokeswoman, American Dietetic Association.

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