Time to Talk Turkey

Fall weather is here and with it comes the holiday eating season. With Thanksgiving near and Christmas holiday meals around the corner, take a moment to know the basics of food safety. Ron Warner, Ph.D., DVM, Texas Tech Physicians — Family Medicine, says following a few steps could keep you and your family from becoming ill this holiday.

“The most important thing to do is to plan ahead,” Dr. Warner said. “If you wait until the last minute to thaw or prepare food items, that is when many mistakes can be made. Many people try to take short cuts when thawing turkeys or other meat items. For example, a big mistake is to leave a frozen turkey on a countertop to thaw.”

Dr. Warner said when most people think about food borne illness, salmonella and E.coli come to mind. If foods are not cooked or handled correctly, your family may be exposed to health dangers. Most holiday meals are going to include several meats. Dr. Warner said the first thing to do is to purchase all food items from a reliable source. Be confident that it is safe. But the next important step is to take good care of the food item from the time you purchase it until it’s time to prepare it.

“Many people will take shortcuts that can lead to problems,” Dr. Warner said. “Not thawing it correctly may cause the turkey to thaw incompletely. This causes pockets inside the turkey that are warmer than others and the possibility for germs to multiply”

Follow directions on packages, plan ahead and allow for a couple of days for turkey to thaw out correctly and completely in the refrigerator. Dr. Warner said once the turkey is thawed, the most common mistake people do is to cook stuffing/dressing inside the turkey.

“That has been found to cause unequal cooking inside the turkey,” Dr. Warner said. “The stuffing may in fact insulate the turkey that is closest to the body cavity and not cook as thoroughly as the rest of the turkey. The recommendation is to cook the stuffing apart from the turkey. We want the heat to be equal and cook thoroughly. Stuffing does not conduct heat at the same rate the turkey meat does.”

As you thaw meat items inside the refrigerator, remember to never thaw meats above raw vegetables. Dr. Warner said you do not want juices from the raw meat to drop down on salad type items because that can lead to cross contamination.

He adds to make sure to thoroughly clean your cutting board after cutting meats and also remember to avoid going directly from meat items to chopping vegetables. Thoroughly clean the cutting board between working with different food types. Also important when preparing food, Warner said to wash your hands thoroughly before you begin and once again when you change from handling the meat to making a salad.

“Wash your hands between recipes. Not only are we concerned about bacteria from meat but also we don’t want to transfer human bacteria from unclean hands,” Warner said.

What would a holiday meal be without gravy? Gravy also needs special attention to protect your family from food borne bacteria. Dr. Warner said to make sure that the gravy is brought to a boil for at least 2 to 3 minutes.

“Cooking for that amount will ensure that you kill any bacteria or spores that may be present in pieces of meat or giblets that are put in the gravy,” Dr. Warner said.

After your holiday meal is complete, there are still precautions to follow to keep bacteria from attacking your family.

“There are guidelines for how long food can sit out from under refrigeration before becoming hazardous for health,” Warner said. “Once a food item is cooked and put out to be served, it should never stay at room temperature more than a cumulative four hours total. Try to get left overs refrigerated as promptly as possible.

Keep in mind the rules still apply the next day with leftovers. Dr. Warner said if you bring them out for lunch the next day, remember the clock is still ticking. For example, if you leave the food out for two hours for the main meal and refrigerate it after, you only have two more hours you can leave it out. Once it is taken out again then it can still be hazardous if left at room temperature too long.

“We often buy more than we can consume and it’s okay to use that extra turkey meat in a casserole,” Dr. Warner said. “But if you are cooking it in as a ‘new dish,’ you must cook it thoroughly once again.”

One last item Dr. Warner warns against is foodborne pathogen Clostridium perfringens, common in beans and rice. This can be a problem when making large quantities of a food item like steamed rice or pinto beans in large pots. The mistake people make is not allowing it to cool thoroughly and evenly after they cook it.

“If you cook it all in one big pot, it is suggested to subdivide it to smaller pans or bowls so it will cool uniformly,” Dr. Warner said. “Because it cools, the inside of the food in a large container may not be at a safe temperature. Spores can ‘come to life’ and produce a foodborne toxin. If spores of this organism are in there, they can come to life.”

This holiday season, cook smart and keep your family healthy.