How to practice food safety during Fourth of July cookouts

(CNN) – The Fourth of July is nearly here.

If you’re planning a cookout or get together, health officials are urging you to keep food safe.

Every year in the U.S., there are an estimated 48 million cases of foodborne illness and 3,000 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Meredith Carothers with the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service says, “If you’re not safe or careful, they can make you sick, and we definitely don’t want our Fourth of July festivities ruined by foodborne illness.”

Carothers says there’s four steps to take to help keep food safe.

First, keep your hands, utensils and surfaces clean before, during and after you prepare food.

Next, keep raw meats away from other ready-to-eat foods to avoid cross-contamination.

Carothers says, “So using like a new utensil as you’re putting raw food on the grill and then using a new utensil before you take the cooked food off the grill, not using the same one.”

Third, make sure the meat you’re gilling reaches the right temperature. This will vary based on what you’re preparing.

Carothers says using a food thermometer is key, because grilling “makes food look done before it actually is.”

Finally, don’t leave food that can spoil out for more than two hours at room temperature. That time is cut in half if you’re outside in high heat.

Carothers also says to keep this in mind for leftovers.

If you plan to transport food to a celebration, Carothers says that food needs to also be kept at a safe temperature. Putting foods in a cooler or insulated bag with cold sources like ice or frozen gel packs, or even frozen water bottles, can help keep the food safe.