The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Meat and Poultry Hotline offers the following common sense safety rules that could save your summer vacation from the disaster of food-borne illness:

If traveling longer than 30 minutes with perishable food, place it in a cooler with ice or freezer packs.

1. Pack perishables directly from the refrigerator or freezer into the cooler.
2. Use the proper size cooler, a full cooler will maintain its cold temperatures longer than one that is only partially filled.
3. Keep raw meat separate from cooked foods or foods meant to be eaten uncooked, such as fruit.
4. Keep the cooler in the air-conditioned passenger compartment of your car.
5. Open and close the lid quickly when getting foods out. For long trips, consider using two coolers; one for immediate food needs and the other for perishable foods to be used later in the vacation.