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Food Safety – No Poultry Matter

With Britain now in the full swing of the festive season, households are starting to turn their thoughts to Christmas Day itself. With Christmas lunch being the most important meal of the festive season, it’s important for families to pay attention to safe food preparation.

In 2012, foodborne illnesses still continued to be a huge concern for UK households, with over 72,000 cases of Campylobacter and over 9,000 cases of Salmonella being reported, according to figures from the Food Standards Agency. These figures show that British families still have a lot to learn about food hygiene and safety, and should be taking extra care when preparing their Christmas Turkeys this year.

According to British Turkey, 76 per cent of British households will serve up a turkey for Christmas dinner this year - equaling about 10 million individual birds. But with the Christmas turkey comes the risk of foodborne pathogens, such as E. coli. Research shows that nearly 20 per cent of all food poisoning cases in the UK are poultry based – with most happening in December.

In order to avoid food poisoning this festive season, we suggest the following tips when preparing, cooking and refrigerating your Christmas meal:

· Wash your hands with soap before handling raw poultry

· Wash all food contact surfaces with hot, soapy water

· Prevent cross-contamination - use separate cutting boards and knives for foods and vegetables and carefully clean each item before using on different foods.

· When preparing turkey, properly thaw it in the refrigerator. It’s best to not thaw it on countertops or outdoors, and be sure to place it in a container that will catch any juices from dripping onto other foods

· Thoroughly cook meat and poultry at the appropriate temperature to kill all bacteria that may be present. Use a cooking thermometer to gauge the temperature of the turkey at its thickest area

· Once you’ve eaten, refrigerate leftovers at within 2 hours of cooking or serving

· Leftovers should be eaten within 3-4 days – and ensure any frozen turkey is thoroughly defrosted before reheating

However, food safety isn’t just for Christmas. While reported cases of food poisoning do rise during the festive season, people should adhere to these rules throughout the year to ensure that they safe in the kitchen when preparing food.

Image: Dinner Series at Wikimedia Commons

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Farzad Henareh .