Picnics are the perfect way to celebrate summer holidays with your family and loved ones. However, keep in mind, you should be putting as much preparation into food safety as you do planning the menu. Whether your picnic is a gourmet affair for a dozen friends or a simple barbecue in the backyard, a little planning will help prevent foodborne illnesses so common during the summer months.

Since bacteria begin to multiply between 40°F and 140°F, it's important to keep foods either cold or hot right up to the moment of cooking and/or serving.

Follow these simple steps recommended by the USDA for summer food safety, and you’ll have a healthy and happy picnic season!

Keep perishable foods cool by transporting them to a picnic site in an insulated cooler kept cold with ice or frozen gel packs, or fill an empty milk carton with water and freeze it overnight.

Pack the cooler immediately before leaving home with foods that have been kept chilled in the refrigerator.

Make sure your cooler will keep foods at 40°F, or plan foods that are less perishable, such as luncheon meats, cheese, peanut butter, etc.

Don't partially precook meat or poultry before transporting; if it must be precooked, cook until done then chill before packing in the cooler.

Put the cooler inside the car rather than in the hot trunk, and keep it in the shade at your destination; replenish ice often.

If you cook food ahead of time, chill thoroughly before putting it in the cooler. If you take hot food, wrap the dish in aluminum foil and towels to keep it above 140°F; if it's a long trip it may be best not to take a hot dish.

Take-out foods like fried chicken or barbecue should be eaten within 2 hours of purchase, or thoroughly chilled before adding to the cooler and transporting.

Be sure all utensils, plates and cooking surfaces are clean, and your hands are washed well before handling food.

Take only as much food out of the cooler as you're going to cook immediately.

When meat is cooked, transfer to a clean plate or platter - never place cooked meat on a platter which held raw meat. Avoid cross-contamination. Place cooked meat, poultry and seafood on a clean plate rather than the plate on which it was carried to the grill.

Never reuse marinades that have come in contact with raw meat, chicken or fish, and don't put the cooked food back into an unwashed container or the dish that contained the marinade.