Christmas Food Safety Tips
How to Avoid Foodborne Illness During the Holidays
Foodborne illnesses that can spoil holiday parties, family dinners and other gathering where food is served can be avoided by taking a few easy steps to prevent them from happening. The bacteria, viruses, parasites, and other contaminants in the food supply that are the culprits can be eliminated before causing illness.
Symptoms of Foodborne Diseases
Typical symptoms of foodborne illness are stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea, which often begin a few days after eating contaminated food or drink. For healthy people, these are not long-lasting, usually going away in a few hours or days and do not need treatment. But it can be severe and even-life threatening to some who are most at risk:
- older adults
- infants and young children
- pregnant women
- people with HIV/AIDS, cancer, or any condition that weakens their immune system.
Basic Food Safety Measures
Cleaning
- Wash hands with warm water and soap for 20 seconds before and after handling food.
- Rinse fruits and vegetables thoroughly under running water and use a produce brush to remove surface dirt.
- Do not rinse raw meat and poultry before cooking. Rinsing is more likely to spread bacteria around the sink and counter tops.
Separating
- When shopping in the store, keep raw meat, poultry, and seafood and their juices away from foods that won't be cooked and also and while preparing and storing at home.
- Use separate cutting boards for foods that will be cooked (raw meat, poultry, seafood) and another one for such foods as raw fruits and vegetables.
- Do not put cooked meat on an unwashed plate that has held raw meat.
Cooking
- Color is not a reliable indicator of doneness. Use a food thermometer to make sure meat, poultry and fish are cooked to safe internal temperatures.
- Turkeys should be checked for doneness by inserting a food thermometer into the inner thigh area near the breast of the fowl,, but not touching the bone. Temperature should reach 180 degrees for the bird and 165 degrees for stuffing.
- Bring sauces, soups, and gravies to a rolling boil when reheating.
- Cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm.
- In recipes calling for raw eggs, such as eggnog, use pasterurized shell eggs, liquid or frozen products, or powdered egg whites.
- Cookie dough should never be eaten raw just incase it contains raw eggs.
Chilling
- Refrigerate leftovers and takeout food within two hours.
- Set the refrigerator no higher than 40 degreesF and the freezer of 0 degrees F.
- Never defrost food at room temperature, only in the refrigerator, under cold running water, or in the microwave. Food thawed in cold water or in a microwave should be cooked immediately.
- Make sure the food is properly thawed so that it is still not frozen in the inside before cooking.
The rule that says, "When in doubt, throw it out." can help to avoid spoiling the holiday by becoming ill from foodborne diseases. Cleaning, separating, cooking food thoroughly, and chilling can make a difference. Merriment can change to misery if the food is contaminated. Awareness and prevention are the keys to a healthy Christmas season.
Source: U.S. Federal Food and Drug Administration, (FDA) Consumer Health Information.
For more information: www.foodsafety.gov; www.cfsan.fda.gov; www.fda.gov/consumer.
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