Search Results for: holiday safety
Hot Off the Grill: Home Grilling Safety Tips
Extension educator Jeannie Nichols publishes Easter and Passover food safety article
Spring is nearly here and with it comes some special holidays and holiday foods. Using a food thermometer when preparing meals is essential to serving safe food to our family and friends. Cooking food thoroughly is one of the four steps in preventing food borne illness according to the national “Fight BAC!™” campaign. The other three steps are: having clean hands and surfaces, separating raw and cooked foods and chilling leftovers promptly.
Here is some food safety advice from the USDA for foods typically served at spring holidays.
• EGGS: Hard-cooked eggs should be cooked thoroughly. Refrigerate eggs within two hours of cooking and use them within a week.
• DYEING AND HUNTING EGGS: To dye hard-cooked eggs, use a food-safe coloring and place them in the refrigerator within two hours. Hard-cooked eggs for an egg hunt must be prepared with care to prevent cracking the shells. If the shells crack, bacteria could contaminate the inside. The total time for hiding and hunting eggs should not be longer than two hours. The “found” eggs must be scrubbed with a brush or cloth under running water, dried and then re-refrigerated until eaten. You could also hide plastic eggs and then use the refrigerated decorated eggs to eat.
• BEEF AND LAMB are often served at spring dinners. Marinated meat must be kept in the refrigerator before cooking. Roasts, steaks, and chops should be cooked to at least 145°F in an oven set no lower than 325°F. Ground meats, on the other hand, should be cooked to 160°F.
• HAM: Both vacuum-packaged fully cooked and canned hams can be eaten cold just as they come from their packaging. To reheat them, set the oven no lower than 325°F and heat to an internal temperature of 140°F. Cook-before-eating hams must be baked in an oven set no lower than 325°F and reach 160°F before serving. Hams can also be safely cooked in a microwave oven, other countertop appliances and on the stove top.
• TURKEY OR CHICKEN: To defrost frozen poultry, place it in the refrigerator allowing one day for every four pounds. These birds can also be safely thawed by submerging the wrapped poultry in cold tap water, changing the water every 30 minutes. When roasting whole poultry, set the oven to no lower than 325°F and heat to an internal temperature of 165°F in the thigh as measured with a food thermometer. If stuffing whole poultry, make the dressing immediately before inserting it loosely in the cavity. The stuffing must reach 165°F before removing the bird from the oven.
• HANDLING LEFTOVERS: No perishable foods should stand at room temperature for more than two hours. Place leftovers in shallow containers, refrigerate, and use or freeze within three to four days. Thoroughly reheat leftovers to 165°F.
Using a thermometer lets you know that you are cooking your food thoroughly and at the same time you will know that it isn’t overcooked and dry!
Access the full article on The Daily Reporter website.
Jeannie Nichols is a food safety educator for Michigan State University Extension. She can be reached at nicho115@msu.edu or 517-439-9301.
Wake TV Video Collaboration is All About Food Safety
Public health educator Michelle Ricci and her team at the Wake County, NC Communicable Disease Program are always seeking new opportunities to deliver food safety messages to consumers in the county. They reached out to the county’s communications office about doing a food safety segment for Wake TV — a program that connects visitors and residents to news, services, interviews, and event information. Wake TV programming is available through their YouTube Channel.
The county’s communications office went a step further and offered to produce four short videos on each of the core home food safety practices: Clean, Separate, Cook and Chill. The four videos use information from FightBAC.org and rely on talented Wake County co-workers as “actors”. A colleague offered the use of the kitchen in her new apartment and the communication office’s digital media and design services staff filmed and produced the videos. A local Food Lion store manager graciously allowed the office to shoot footage for the videos in his store.
The videos aired on Wake TV at the beginning of August 2017. There are plans to promote the videos on Wake County’s website as part of their September Food Safety Education Month efforts. The videos will also be featured on social media, with special promotion planned for the winter holidays.
Please click on the thumbnail images to play videos.
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Take a Fresh Look at Frozen Foods this Holiday Season
Dr. Donna Garren, Senior Vice President of Regulatory and Technical Affairs, Frozen Food Foundation
In honor of the holiday season, the Frozen Food Foundation invites you to take a fresh look at frozen foods and follow the four easy steps in the Story of Your Dinner consumer education campaign.
Frozen. How Fresh Stays Safe.
Freezing is nature’s pause button. Freezing simply pauses just-picked and just-baked foods, keeping them at their peak of freshness and locking in their flavor and nutrients.
Freezing, one of the oldest methods of preserving foods, can keep foods fresh for a longer period of time. Freezing is a natural way to keep foods safe by preventing microorganisms from growing and by slowing down the enzyme activity that causes food to spoil. Modern freezing techniques used by fruit and vegetable growers and makers of prepared meals capture and preserve food at the peak of its freshness and nutrient content.
When preparing the variety of options available to consumers in the frozen food aisle, remember to always read and follow the package cooking instructions to achieve the right temperature to make your foods safe and delicious.
Another important tip to remember this holiday season is if you can’t eat your leftovers quickly, freeze them, because cold temperatures slow the growth of harmful bacteria.
Frozen. How Fresh Stays Nutritious.
Did you know that frozen fruits and vegetables are as rich in nutrients and, in many cases, are packed with even higher nutrient levels than their fresh counterparts?
Two Frozen Food Foundation-commissioned studies conducted by the Universities of Georgia (UGA) and California-Davis (UC Davis) reveal that frozen fruits and vegetables are as rich in nutrients, and often more so, than fresh-stored produce.
Frozen. How Fresh Stays Accessible.
About 40 percent of the food produced in the United States each year is never eaten, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, amounting to about $162 billion lost every year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
All of this wasted food is staggering considering 17.5 million U.S. households are food insecure.
Frozen foods mean less wasted food and access to well-balanced, portion-controlled nutritious meals in every season and community. In fact, research published in the British Food Journal shows that frozen food generates 47 percent less food waste at home than non-frozen food, so families can save money while still eating healthy meals.
We’ve got your back this holiday season with safe, nutritious and easy to prepare frozen foods.
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