Is your co-worker’s casserole safe to eat?

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.