 It's our favorite time of the year. Yes, it's football season. The sounds of the bands, cheers to the fans, the battle on the grid iron, and most importantly, tailgating. Eating and drinking, just play as team loyalty and just having a good time or signs of a successful tailgating regardless if you're at home or at the game. Did you know you can get food poisoning by not following proper food safety practices? According to the Center for Disease Control, every year approximately one in six Americans or 48 million people get sick from eating contaminated food. It is estimated that 128,000 people are hospitalized and 3,000 people die every year. But don't worry, there is a winning game plan for a safe and successful tailgating season. So get ready to gear up and team up to tackle food safety by the following four simple plays. The first play is clean. Wash your hands for 20 seconds with warm soap and water before, during, and after preparing food and before eating. If water is not available at the tailgating site, bring water for hand washing and cleaning. Pat clean, wet, disposable cloths, or moist towelettes and paper towels for cleaning your hands and surfaces. Wash your utensils, cutting boards, and countertops full of hot, soapy water. Store your utensils in a clean container to take with you and use during your tailgate. Rinse fresh fruits and vegetables under running water. Okay, here's the huge question. Is it safe to wash meat before cooking? That's the million dollar question. According to the CDC, you should not wash raw poultry, seafood, and other meat before cooking it, even though some older recipes may call for this step. Washing chicken will not remove the harmful germs and bacteria that may be present. Instead, it only spreads bacteria to other foods, utensils, and surfaces. And most importantly, it does not prevent illness. That leads us to our next play. The second play is separate. Raw poultry, seafood, and other meat can spread germs to ready to eat foods unless you keep them separate. You separate plates, utensils, and cutting boards for raw meat, poultry, and seafood. Keep raw meat, poultry, seafood, and their juices away from other foods. The third play is cook. Use a food thermometer to ensure foods are cooked to a safe internal temperature. Food is safely cooked when the internal temperature gets high enough to kill germs that can make you sick. The only way to tell if food is safely cooked is to use a food thermometer. You can't tell if food is safely cooked by checking its color and texture. Do you remember when we discussed washing chicken? It only creates a bigger problem than what you were trying to solve. Cooking poultry, seafood, and other meat to a safe internal temperature is the best way to kill harmful germs and bacteria. So what internal temperature should poultry be cooked? It's recommended that chicken is cooked to 165 degrees. You can find recommended temperatures for chicken and other meats by visiting www.foodsafety.gov. Marinades are often used during grilling for flavor. Don't reuse the marinade from the raw meat or poultry on cooked food. Reserve a portion of the marinade before using it to marinade cooked meat. The fourth and final plate is chilled. Never leave perishable food out for more than two hours. Bacteria can multiply rapidly if left at room temperature or in danger zone between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit. You're outside and it's hotter than 90 degrees Fahrenheit. You shouldn't leave perishable food out for more than one hour. Use an insulated cooler, packed with ice, or frozen jail packs to carry in stored cold perishable foods. And that's it. By following these four plays, clean, separate, cook, and chill, you will have a winning and safe tailgate season. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to get back to this tailgating. Me too. Let's go, Bulldogs! Happy tailgating! The previous was brought to you by the Urban Supplemental Nutrition Education Program. The USNAP-ED program makes nutrition easy, tasty, and affordable. To learn more about the Urban SNAP-ED program, visit www.aces.edu-urban-snap-ed. You can also visit the USNAP-ED program on Facebook.