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Summer time brings together friends and family for potlucks, picnics and old fashion BBQ's.  Keep these seven potluck safety tips in mind while enjoying time with your loved ones.

1. Don't reuse marinades from raw meats.  If you need to baste while cooking, set aside some marinade ahead of time to prevent cross-contamination.
2. Use thermometers to ensure dishes are fulled cooked and kept at the correct temperatures.
3. Remember the danger zone 41° to 135° is there to keep foods at the proper temperature.  Cold foods should be cold at 41° or below and hot foods 135° or above.   Some simple ways to keep food cold is to place on top of a bowl or shallow baking pan of ice.  Another cleaver way to keep all those yummie foods cold is to fill up a clean kiddie pool with ice and place the food in the ice.  
4. Hot foods need to stay warm by using chaffing dishes, serving right off the grill or using a slow cooker.
5. Cream cheese and whipped cream desserts will melt in warm temperatures and are not good choices for pot lucks unless kept in the fridge until serving time.  
6. Discard all food that has been time-tempertaure abused.  Hot food held without temperature control for four hours or longer must be thrown out.
7. Cold food when it reaches 70° or higher must be thrown out immediately.

Keep the party going by following the above tips on how to keep food safe.