CLEVELAND -- Parents should be aware that there may be hidden dangers in your holiday picnics unless you take precautions.

Grilling outside is a favorite of culinary art school student Connie Suggs so it's no wonder she has cooking duties this holiday.

"You've got to poke it and cut it and make sure it's not pink on the inside," Suggs said. She has a budding chef not far from the fire in her granddaughter, six-year-old Rayne Miller.

"I like when I season the food and all kinds of stuff," Rayne said.

Kids handling raw meat without washing their hands properly sent two Olmsted Falls children and one Strongsville child, all under the age of nine, to Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in the last 48 hours.

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The Cuyahoga County Board of Health says they developed a rare condition associated with E.coli bacteria.

You can be poisoned by E.coli bacteria without ever touching the meat through cross-contamination in your cooler.

Raw meat in its original packaging can leech into other loosely packaged foods in your cooler. It can drain onto pop can tops and into the ice.

"I use tupperware containers and other things with lids. Hot goes with hot. Cold goes with cold. Dry goes with dry," Suggs said.

The health department recommends cooking grilled meat until it reaches 160 degrees.

If you don't have a thermometer handy, just make sure it's not pink in the middle.