It’s the season to be jolly - and hospital free.
With all the holiday parties and dinners with the family, there’s nothing worse than ending up on your back with a food-related illness.
It doesn’t mean, however, that you have to skip that odd-looking chicken dish your co-worker in the next cubicle made for the office party - unless you want to.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has issued a few tips to keep your holidays healthy.
At home:
- Use separate cutting boards, plates and utensils for raw roasts and cooked roasts to avoid cross-contamination.
- Wash items such as cutting boards that have touched raw meat with warm water and soap, or place them in a dishwasher.
- To avoid overcooking beef, veal, pork and lamb roasts use a meat thermometer. These roasts should be removed from the oven when they reach an internal temperature of 145 °F and allowed to rest for three minutes before serving.
- Turkey, duck, and goose should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 °F as measured by a food thermometer. Temperatures should be taken in three areas of the bird: the thickest part of the breast, the innermost part of the wing, and the innermost part of the thigh.
- Kitchen towels should be washed frequently to avoid cross-contamination, so a home cook can never have enough kitchen towels.
- If you plan to mail a food gift, make sure the mail delivery company sends perishable items, like meat and poultry, cold or frozen and pack it with a cold source.
- Foods should be packaged in a foam or heavy corrugated cardboard container.
- Delivery should occur as quickly as possible – ideally, overnight.
- Foods should arrive frozen or partially frozen with ice crystals still visible or at least refrigerator cold – below 40 °F as measured by a food thermometer.
Food Safety Tips for Holiday Party Buffets:
- Keep hot food hot and keep cold food cold by using chafing dishes or crock pots and ice trays. Hot items should remain above 140 ˚F and cold items should remain below 40 ˚F.
- Use several small plates when serving food.
- Discard perishable foods left out for two hours or more.
- Leftovers should be refrigerated or frozen immediately in shallow containers. Reheat leftovers to 165 °F.
- If you're transporting pre-cooked food to a holiday get together, keep cold foods safe on the way there by placing items in a cooler with ice or gel packs to keep them at or below 40 ˚F. If you're transporting hot foods, wrap dishes in insulated bags or towels and newspaper to keep their temperature above 140 ˚F.
Additional resources:
"Ask Karen," the FSIS virtual representative available 24 hours a day at AskKaren.gov or via smartphone at m.askkaren.gov. The toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline 1-888-MPHotline 1-888-674-6854 is available in English and Spanish and can be reached from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System can also be accessed 24 hours a day at: www.fsis.usda.gov/reportproblem.
The USDA also has a FoodKeeper application. This smartphone and tablet app created by FSIS will help you evaluate what items in your refrigerator and pantry are still good and what may be past its prime.
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