Media Release

For Immediate Release
Date: November 20, 2006

Preventing Foodborne Illness During the Holidays

With the holidays upon us comes plans for entertaining friends and family. When preparing your menu items, it is important to keep food safe to prevent foodborne illness from ruining your holiday event. Be sure to keep food safe for both you and your guests by following these food safety guidelines:

• Clean by washing hands and food-contact surfaces often, since bacteria can spread throughout the kitchen and contaminate cutting boards, kitchen utensils, sponges and countertops.
• Separate and don't cross-contaminate--don't let bacteria spread from one food product to another. This is especially true for raw meat, poultry and seafood. Experts caution to keep these foods and their juices away from ready-to-eat foods.
• Cook foods to proper temperatures. Foods are properly cooked when they are heated for a long enough time and at a high enough temperature to kill the harmful bacteria that cause foodborne illness.
• Chill: Refrigerate promptly. Public health officials advise consumers to refrigerate foods quickly because cold temperatures keep most harmful bacteria from growing and multiplying. Refrigerators should be set at 40 F and the freezer at 0 F, and the accuracy of the settings should be checked occasionally with a thermometer.

Other food safety tips:

• Thaw turkey in your refrigerator (40 F or below) and allow approximately 24 hours for every 4 to 5 pounds.
• Cook whole turkeys to a minimum of 165 F. The temperature of stuffing should be 165 F.
• Check a turkey for doneness by inserting a food thermometer into the inner thigh area near the breast of the turkey, but not touching the bone.
• Use pasteurized eggs to prepare eggnog, since unpasteurized eggs may contain bacteria that can cause illness.
• Ensure adequate refrigerator space for storage of planned menu items both before and after dinner is served.
• Do not leave perishable foods at room temperature for more than two hours.
• Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold.

Additional information on safely roasting a turkey can be found at the following:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/fact_sheets/Lets_Talk_Turkey/index.asp

For information on reporting a foodborne illness, please visit our Website at: http://www.health.ri.gov/ or call the RI Department of Health at 222-2750.