Tallahassee, FL – The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services released 10 reminders for Floridians to keep in mind as they prepare meals for friends and family this holiday season. Each year, roughly one in six Americans, or 48 million people are affected by foodborne illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Fortunately, there are measures Floridians can take to avoid illness when preparing food at home.
1. Wash your hands, surfaces and utensils often during food preparation.
2. Keep raw foods away from cooked foods to avoid cross-contamination.
3. Thaw frozen turkey in the refrigerator or under cold-running water. Never defrost the turkey at room temperature.
4. Cook food to the proper temperature. Cooking a turkey at an oven temperature lower than 325 degrees Fahrenheit is unsafe because it allows the turkey and stuffing to remain at an unsafe temperature for too long. Turkey should be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees, using a food thermometer to verify the temperature.
5. Cook the stuffing separate from the turkey to avoid bacterial growth.
6. Don’t interrupt the cooking process. Interrupting the cooking process or cooking a turkey in stages promotes the growth of bacteria.
7. When making homemade eggnog, be sure to cook the mixture to 160 degrees Fahrenheit, then refrigerate.
8. Don’t eat raw cookie dough. The raw eggs contained in the mixture makes it unsafe to eat uncooked.
9. Take extra care when preparing a holiday buffet. Keep buffet servings small and replenish the servings directly from the stove or refrigerator.
10. Refrigerate leftovers as soon as possible. Don’t eat food that has been left out for more than two hours.
For more information about how to safely prepare food, visit: http://www.florida-agriculture.com/consumers/foodsafety_winter.htm.
For more information about the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, visit www.FreshFromFlorida.com or follow Commissioner Putnam on Facebook, www.Facebook.com/AdamPutnam, and Twitter, @adamputnam.