Food Safety this Holiday Season
Here are seven dangerous habits USDA and your CERT Committee would like you to consider this Holiday Season:
#1 Not washing your hands or kitchen surfaces before, during and after food prep:
Handwashing is the first step to avoiding foodborne illness. Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water before, during and after handling food.
#2 Using the same cutting boards and utensils for raw and ready-to-eat foods:
Cross contamination is the spread of bacteria from raw meat and poultry onto ready-to-eat food, surfaces, and utensils.
#3 Defrosting your turkey on the kitchen counter:
Leaving any frozen package of meat or poultry for more than two hours on the counter at room temperature is dangerous.
#4 Cooking your turkey overnight at a low temperature:
It is not safe to cook any meat or poultry in an oven set lower than 325 F.
#5 Relying only on a pop-up temperature indicator:
While the pop-up timers found in many turkeys tend to be fairly accurate, they only check the internal temperature in one spot when we recommend three.
#6 Stuffing your turkey the night before:
USDA recommends against stuffing your turkey since this often leads to bacteria growth.
#7 Keeping leftovers for more than a week:
Store leftovers in small shallow containers and put them in the refrigerator. Thanksgiving le!overs are safe to eat for up to four days when stored in the refrigerator.