Serve up great food, not sickness, this Thanksgiving

By Kyle Schmidt

Thanksgiving is all about the food for many, making it important to take precautions to avoid serving up anything that could make holiday guests ill.

Luke Pitts, an environment public health specialist with the St. Joseph Health Department, offers some tips to make sure the turkey and stuffing are what friends and family are talking about rather than stomach issues after the meal.

“Avoid the obvious stuff like cross-contamination,” Pitts said. “You don’t want to be handling something like a door handle or your phone or touching your face then go straight to handling food.”

Washing hands for at least 20 to 30 seconds is recommended before handling food again. Pitts also reminds the cooks to be wary of food allergies. Make sure every allergy is accounted for and that food is separated if necessary.

“Keeping everything in separate containers away from each other is best,” Pitts said. “That’s the way it operates at restaurants, that’s how they don’t contaminate foods someone might be allergic to.”

It’s also important to remember to place raw foods below anything already cooked so juices don’t drip down and contaminate ready-to-eat dishes. Poultry should be on the bottom shelf as well.

When cooking the turkey or any poultry, Pitts said to make sure the internal temperature reaches at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit, the heat at which dangerous bacteria die.

Once the turkey has been served, it is important food doesn’t stay out for too long.

“No more than a couple hours, I’d say probably two to four hours,” Pitts said. “It can take a long time for a big bird to cool down so you might want to cut it into smaller portions so that it cools down within the proper time frame.”

Any longer and the risk for bacteria growth increases, he said.