Follow these safety tips to prevent food poisoning during the holidays
The holidays are nearly upon us. Gathering family or friends around a table of delicious home-cooked food is one of the great pleasures of the season. Ideally, everyone has a great time, there are leftovers for several days, and no one gets sick.
However, it’s important to take care that food is being handled safely. Food poisoning (also known as food-borne illness or food-borne disease) is an illness usually caused by microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi) in food. These microorganisms cannot be seen, tasted, or smelled, and can multiply quickly. Symptoms of food poisoning can include upset stomach, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever. It may take hours or even days before symptoms develop.
Luckily, there are four simple steps you can remember to keep your food safe: Clean, Separate, Cook, Chill.
Clean: Wash hands, utensils, and surfaces often
Dirty hands spread disease. Wash them before handling food. You can read all about the history and how-to of handwashing in the Nov. 24 edition of Health Matters.
Clean everything that comes into contact with food with hot, soapy water. That includes counters, dishes, utensils, cutting boards, food thermometers, storage containers and the refrigerator.
Wash fruits and vegetables (not meat, poultry or eggs) under running water, scrubbing when necessary. For example, scrub melons and cucumbers with a clean produce brush before cutting to prevent bacteria on the surface from getting into the produce.
Separate: Don’t cross contaminate
Prevent cross-contaminating safe food with unsafe foods and surfaces.
Separate meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs from ready-to-eat foods such as fruits and vegetables in your grocery cart. Use plastic bags for raw meats. When you check out, place raw meat, poultry, and seafood in separate bags from other foods.
Keep meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs separate from all other foods in the refrigerator. Keep raw meats in a tray to keep juices away from other foods, and store it below your fruits and vegetables when possible. Keep eggs in their original container, and not in the door of the refrigerator.
Use separate plates and utensils for cooked and raw foods.
Use one cutting board for fresh produce or other foods that won’t be cooked before they’re eaten, and another for raw meat, poultry, or seafood (or wash thoroughly between uses). Replace them when they are worn.
Cook to right temperatures
Cooked food is safe only after it’s been heated to a high enough temperature to kill harmful illness-causing bacteria.
Cook all foods to safe temperatures by using a food thermometer. These are available at most grocery and hardware stores.
Heat all leftovers to 165 degrees F to kill harmful bacteria.
Chill: Refrigerate and freeze food properly
Refrigerate perishable foods within two hours. Place perishable groceries in refrigerator or freezer within two hours after purchase (grocery shopping should be your last errand on a busy day). Make that just one hour if it is over 90 degrees F outside. Place leftovers in refrigerator uncovered in shallow containers within two hours of the food being cooked (not after the meal is finished). Again, you have one hour if food is outside and it is over 90 degrees F.
Cold temperatures (41 degrees F or lower) slow the growth of illness causing bacteria. Invest in a refrigerator thermometer to make sure your fridge stays below 41 degrees F. They are available in most grocery and hardware stores.
Thaw and marinate foods in the refrigerator, never on the counter. This includes your frozen turkey.
This holiday season, and throughout the year, keep your family and friends safe and healthy by using the best practices to keep your food safe and healthy. To learn more about food safety, go to https://www.foodsafety.gov/
Schelli Slaughter is the Director of Thurston County Public Health and Social Services. Previously, she served as Executive Director of the Family Support Center of South Sound for more than 10 years, and has worked in a variety of other health-related fields. She holds a Master of Health Administration degree from the University of Washington School of Public Health.