Safe Food Preparation and Storage

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. The grocery stores are stocked with an unusually high amount of turkeys, potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing mixes, and pumpkin pies, which will rapidly make their way into many American kitchens. Then, when the holiday passes, the leftovers of these Thanksgiving staples will find their way into most of our refrigerators, to be saved for a later meal. Wouldn’t it be unfortunate if improper food preparation and storage caused food poisoning on this happy holiday? Ensure a healthy holiday by taking special care to heed these general food safety rules:

• Use a food thermometer (inserted into the thickest section) to ensure that all meats and poultry reach the temperature that kills the bacteria specific to that food. This “kill” temperature is 165 degrees for poultry, 155 for beef and shell eggs, and 145 for seafood, pork, lamb, or goat. Some recommend that 25 degrees be added to this temperature if the cooking is being done in a microwave.
• Carefully wash any materials that touched the raw meat or poultry. Ideally, reserve a cutting board specifically for the use of poultry to avoid cross-contamination.
• Do not let food sit out for more than 2 hours before putting it into the fridge or freezer. After four hours, the food has a much higher risk of being the source of a foodborne illness.
• Keep a thermometer near the door (the warmest part) of your fridge to ensure that it is functioning properly and never falls below 41 degrees Fahrenheit. The fridge is recommended be set at a temperature between 36 and 38 degrees.
• Keep your refrigerator clean and organized: fully-cooked and ready-to-eat food should be at the top of the fridge; raw seafood, pork, lamb, or goat should be below this, followed by beef, then poultry (e.g. turkey). This ensures that foods can only spill or drip onto foods that have a higher “kill” temperature. Uncooked or unwashed produce should be stored separately in the crisper.
• Do not reheat food more than once. The pathogens that were slowed down by the refrigeration can multiply to dangerous levels.

Let us groan because of our full stomachs, not because of food poisoning. Happy Thanksgiving!