USDA Urges Consumers to Keep Risky Habits Out of the Kitchen This Thanksgiving

(KNSI) — Call it much ado about stuffing, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture has some food safety tips to keep you and your family from getting sick this Thanksgiving.

The holiday can go from tasty to terrible in a hurry when practicing unsafe food handling practices and undercooking the turkey. Both can cause foodborne illness, according to the USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety, Dr. Emilio Esteban. “To ensure your Thanksgiving meal is wholesome and memorable without the illness, follow the four steps to food safety: clean, separate, cook and chill, and avoid risky food handling habits that go against USDA guidelines.”

Before making dinner, wash your hands thoroughly. Also, separate cutting boards and utensils for raw meat and ready-to-eat foods, and disinfect surfaces in between.

When defrosting the turkey, do it in the fridge, not on the counter, and then place the completely thawed bird in a roasting pan two to two and a half inches deep before popping it in the oven and cooking it at at least 325 degrees. It’s important to keep the door shut to speed up cooking time and use a food thermometer to check the internal temp for doneness.

The internal temp for the meat and the stuffing should be a minimum of 165 degrees in three places: The inner-most part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast.

For leftovers, get them in the fridge within two hours of cooking and keep them at 40 degrees or colder to prevent food poisoning. For safety’s sake, keep leftovers refrigerated at a proper temperature, and when reheating, make sure it’s at 165 degrees before diving in. Experts say to eat everything within three to four days.

___