FOOD SAFETY: No doubt many of you will be traveling with your famous string bean casserole or raspberry cheesecake or whatever your favorite dish is to a relative’s home this Christmas.
A delicious treat is a great way to show family you care — but passing around stomach aches from mishandled food is not.
To help, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has passed along some food safety information to help keep your loved ones healthy this holiday season.
To start, the agency shared this “to do” list:
• First, keep clean. Wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap and water, serve food on clean plates and do not reuse a plate that held raw meat.
• Keep raw and cooked foods separate so as not to cross contaminate.
• Make sure to chill leftovers within two hours of cooking. Throw away anything that has been out longer — it’s not worth getting sick over.
• Use a food thermometer when cooking to ensure food reaches the safe minimum internal temperature.
Here are a few temperatures guidelines:
-Cook these to a minimum 145-degree internal temperature: raw beef, pork, lamb, veal steaks, chops and roasts, then let meats rest for at least three minutes before carving or eating
-Cook these to a minimum 160-degree internal temperature: ground beef, pork, lamb and veal
-Cook poultry to a minimum 165-degree internal temperature.
When traveling with hot foods, keep them at 140 degrees or above by carrying them in insulated containers. In contrast, cold food should be kept at 40 degrees or below by carrying the food with ice or frozen gel packs.
Readers can find more information about food safety and food poisoning at www.foodsafety.gov. Also, under the website’s “Keep Food Safe” link, readers can find a FoodKeeper app that can be downloaded on Android or Apple devices for more information on the go.
