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Rank food safety high on your Thanksgiving menu




Use health and safety precautions when cooking a turkey for Thanksgiving.SUBMITTED/Main Street Maury

Use health and safety precautions when cooking a turkey for Thanksgiving.SUBMITTED/Main Street Maury

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has provided some tips for Thanksgiving Day food safety during America’s biggest meal.

“While the four steps to food safety — clean, separate, cook and chill — are important every day and at every meal, they are particularly significant on Thanksgiving,” USDA Deputy Under Secretary Sandra Eskin said in a news release. “There will likely be many guests and many delicious dishes at your holiday table, but you don’t want to invite any foodborne pathogens. Follow those four steps — in particular remember to use a food thermometer — and your Thanksgiving dinner will be a safe one.”

Handwashing is the first step to avoiding foodborne illness. Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water before, during, and after handling food. In a recent study, 97 percent of participants in a USDA test kitchen failed to wash their hands properly.

Clean and sanitize any surfaces that have touched raw turkey and its juices and will later touch food such as kitchen counters, sinks, stoves, tabletops, etc.

Avoid cross-contamination which is the spread of bacteria from raw meat and poultry onto ready-to-eat food, surfaces, and utensils.

One way to avoid this is by using separate cutting boards — one for raw meat and poultry, and another for fruits and vegetables. A recent USDA study found that sinks are the most contaminated areas of the kitchen. USDA recommends against washing raw poultry due to the risk of splashing bacteria throughout your kitchen.

Never thaw a turkey in hot water or leave it on a countertop. There are three ways to safely thaw a turkey: in the refrigerator, in cold water and in the microwave.

Refrigerator thawing: Turkey can be safely thawed in a refrigerator. When thawing in a refrigerator, allow roughly 24 hours for every four to five pounds of turkey.

Cold water thawing: When thawing in a cold-water bath, allow 30 minutes per pound and submerge the turkey in its original wrapping to avoid cross-contamination. Change the water every 30 minutes until the turkey is thawed. The turkey must be cooked immediately after thawing.

Microwave thawing: To thaw a turkey that fits in the microwave, follow manufacturer’s recommendations. Cook it immediately after thawing because some areas of the food may become warm and begin to cook during the thawing process.

The turkey is safe to eat once it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Insert a food thermometer into the thickest part of the breast, the innermost part of the wing and the innermost part of the thigh to check its internal temperature.

Refrigerate all perishable foods sitting out at room temperature within two hours of being cooked, or one hour if the temperature is 90 degrees or above. After two hours, perishable food will enter the “Danger Zone” (between 40 degrees and 140 degrees), which is where bacteria can multiply quickly. Discard all foods that have been left out for more than two hours.

Store leftovers in small, shallow containers and put them in the refrigerator. Thanksgiving leftovers are safe to eat up to four days in the refrigerator. In the freezer, leftovers are safely frozen indefinitely but will keep best quality from two to six months.

For Thanksgiving food safety questions, call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) or chat live at ask.usda.gov from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The Meat and Poultry Hotline will be open on Thanksgiving Day from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

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