Barbecues are synonymous with summer for many of us, conjuring up images of lazy evenings, gourmet chargrilled burgers and cocktails in the garden.

For the more realistic among us, an alfresco dining experience often involves lighting the barbecue before rushing back indoors to hide from the rain while clutching a soggy paper plate laden with a solitary sausage, as that’s all we had time to cook before the heavens opened.

Despite this, there’s no doubt that barbecues are a fun experience, but have you ever thought about the impact they could be having on your health?

Grilling food can be a healthy option, but there are several potential dangers associated with barbecues too. These include food poisoning and inhaling carcinogenic substances - this term refers to elements which could possibly cause cancer.

Don’t panic though - to put your mind at ease, we’ve put together a guide to the health benefits and risks of barbecues so you can make sure your outdoor feast is as safe as possible. Just keep an eye on those clouds!

Health benefits of barbecuing food

Grilling sausages, burgers, chicken legs, pork steaks or whatever your meaty preference is on a barbecue allows excess fat to drip off the product, leaving it lower in fat than if it had been cooked differently.

In addition, the extreme heat of a barbecue seals in meat’s moisture, meaning no extra oil is needed, while food cooked in this way also retains more riboflavin and thiamine, both of which are valuable vitamins.

Beware of food poisoning

The risk of developing food poisoning increases when preparing and cooking food outdoors.

Symptoms of this usually include an upset tummy, but in some cases, food poisoning can in fact be fatal.

Placing raw meat on a barbecue grill can encourage potentially harmful bacteria such as E coli and Salmonella to spread, while serving food that isn’t piping hot can also result in such germs being passed on.

Alternatively, you could take note of the Food Standards Agency’s advice, which states: "The safest option is to cook food indoors using your oven. You can then put the cooked food outside on the barbecue for flavour.

"Don’t assume that because meat is charred on the outside it will be cooked properly on the inside. Cut the meat at the thickest part and ensure none of it is pink on the inside.”

Be careful of meat contamination too. This isn’t just about keeping meat away from food that vegetarians are going to eat, it also means extra care needs to be taken when handling raw beef, sausages and chicken in the first place.

Always washing your hands after touching raw products, using separate utensils, keeping raw and cooked meat away from each other and making sure you don’t marinade food with a brush used to touch uncooked meat can all help reduce the risk of bacteria spreading and food poisoning developing.

Raw meat isn’t the only breeding ground for germs that could cause food poisoning, as products that are meant to be kept cold - such as salads, dips, milk, sandwiches and cooked rice - can attract bacteria when they get too warm.

To prevent this from happening, keep such foods in a sheltered place, ideally in the fridge.