Protect yourself in the outdoors, says The American Cancer Society (ACS) -- read all about it here -- and protect your picnic food too, say the cancer experts who are sending me an electronic monthly newsletter all about healthy living.

Warm weather poses a big threat of food-borne illness, according to the ACS. So: Keep bacteria away at your next outdoor feast with these five easy steps.

• Wash your hands before cooking and again after cooking, especially after touching raw meat. If you aren't near a faucet, grab a wet napkin or hand sanitizer -- they'll reduce the number of germs on your hands.

• Keep hot food hot. Hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken should be kept at 140 degrees F or warmer.

• Keep cold foods cold. Even if you've got your food packed in a cooler, tuck it in a shady area. Keep at 41 degrees F or cooler.

• Wash melons before cutting them. This way, less bacteria will slip into the flesh from the rind when you slice them.

• Bring extra plates to cut down on cross-contamination. Use some to handle raw foods and others to handle cooked foods.

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Los Angeles Salad Company, out of California, is recalling all of its packages of baby carrots labeled "Genuine Sweet Baby Carrots" with a 'sell by' date up to (and including) August 16th due to the possibility that they are contaminated with Shigella bacteria. The packages were sold in Colorado, California, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina and Florida with the "Los Angeles Salad Company" brand name, and in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon and Washington under the brand "Trader Joe's."

4 people have become ill in Canada and investigators are still trying to determine the source. Shigella bacteria infections can cause bloody diarrhea, fever, nausea, and vomiting -- if you find any of these carrots in your home don't eat them (obviously) and return them to the place of purchase for a full refund.

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When you get sick and blame something you ate, your first reaction is probably along the lines of "where did I last eat out?" Many of us automatically blame restaurants for food-borne illnesses, but the truth is that statistics show 1 in 4 victims gets sick from something they cooked themselves at home.

In all honesty, besides limiting how often you dine out and perhaps avoiding commonly contaminated foods like ground meat, there's really not much you can do about food-borne illnesses from restaurant food. But follow these 7 tips for ensuring the food you make at home is as safe as possible:

• Wash your hands frequently. Most people do when they first get started cooking, but to be safe you really need to wash your hands thoroughly every time you switch to working with a new ingredient or meal item.

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