This United States Department of Agriculture article has been on my desk all summer. While it addresses checking food thermometers during the summer, food thermometers are mandatory all year long. Purchase one or two or three and use them. Garnet and I have one in the kitchen and one in the travel trailer, plus a third in our food travel bag.

Summer is a time for family vacations, backyard barbecues and plenty of outdoor activities with food as the centerpiece. But before those steaks and burgers go on the grill, USDA wants to remind consumers to keep their family and themselves safe from foodborne illness by using a food thermometer to ensure meat and poultry is cooked to the correct internal temperature.

The best and only way to make sure bacteria have been killed and food is safe to eat is by cooking it to the correct internal temperature as measured by a food thermometer. It is a simple step that can stop your family and guests from getting foodborne illness.

Recent research by USDA and the Food and Drug Administration found that only 34 percent of the public use a food thermometer when cooking hamburgers. If you don’t verify your burger’s internal temperature, pathogens may still be present. When eaten, those hamburgers can make your guests and your family sick.

Dennis note: Remember to check the internal temperature of a hamburger by inserting the thermometer into the burger at the side or edge and aiming toward the center.

In fact, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 48 million people suffer from foodborne illness each year, resulting in roughly 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths.

So how do you avoid becoming a part of those statistics? Find out in next week’s column.