Health Department - Holiday Food Safety Tips

With the holidays comes food, food, and more food. Unfortunately, with all the food and all the resulting leftovers the chances of food-borne illness increases. Following some basic safety guidelines will help to keep you and your family safe from food related illness.

At the store:

• Pay Attention to "Sell By" and "Use By" dates.
• Make sure frozen food is solid, refrigerated foods are cold and packages are not torn or punctured.
• Place raw poultry, meet or fish in separate bags before putting them in your cart to prevent leakage.
• Pick up perishable foods last before checking out to help maintain temperature.

At home:

• Put perishable foods in the refrigerator or freezer first.
• Place meat, fish and poultry in separate plastic bags and on plates, to prevent leaks.
• Use beef, deli meats and poultry within a few days; use fish within one or two days.
• Maintain refrigerator temperature at 35 to 40 degrees; keep the freezer at or below zero.
  

Food preparation:

• Do NOT defrost meat, poultry or fish on a kitchen counter or in warm water, as bacteria thrive between 40 and 140 degrees.
• Cook defrosted meats immediately.
• Keep everything - hands, utensils, bowls, counters - that touches food clean.
• Wash hands with warm, soapy water before preparing any food and after handling raw meat, poultry and fish.
• Use separate platters, cutting boards, trays and utensils for cooked and uncooked meat, poultry and fish.
• Keep raw poultry, meat and fish juices from other foods.

Cooking:

• Cook ground meats thoroughly to an internal temperature of 160 degrees; use a thermometer to be sure.
• Do not cook meats at below 300 degrees.
• Do not use brown paper bags for roasting.
• Cook stuffing for turkey or chicken separately, not in the cavity of the bird.
• Do not interrupt cooking time and finish later.
• Baste or brush sauces only on cooked meat.

Serving:

• Do not leave cooked meat or other perishable foods at room temperature for longer than two hours.
• When serving buffet style, keep cold foods on ice.
• Do not mix buffet foods by adding new foods to existing buffet items.
• Use separate plates, platters or trays for holding raw and uncooked foods.
• If using utensils for both raw and uncooked foods, wash them thoroughly in between uses with war, soapy water.

Leftovers:

• Freeze or refrigerate leftovers immediately.
• Leftover meat, fish and poultry should be wrapped securely before refrigerating.
• Eat leftover meat, fish and poultry within three to four days and reheat to 165 degrees or until steaming hot.
• Sauces and gravies should be reheated to a rolling boil for at least one minute before serving.

For more information on holiday food safety please visit the CDC's food safety web page at: http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/holidaycook.htm