From gift-giving, decorating and family gatherings, the holiday season should be filled with peace, joy and happiness.
Unfortunately, sickness can be an unwanted gift that you cannot return to the store and will surely put a damper on your celebrations.
While taking care of others this holiday season, be sure to take care of yourself by getting plenty of rest, limiting stress and staying hydrated.
Another concern deals with the food. In addition to monitoring overeating and sugar intake, you need to keep food safety in mind. One gift you should avoid giving loved ones is food poisoning.
As you plan to host holiday parties and family meals, food safety should be a top priority. Here are five important tips to remember when preparing your holiday feast:
- Do not rinse raw meat and poultry before cooking. Although some consumers think they are removing bacteria and making their meat or poultry safe, washing before cooking is not recommended. according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Bacteria in raw meat and poultry juices can be spread to other foods, utensil and surfaces, which is commonly referred to as cross-contamination.
- Use a food thermometer to make sure meat is cooked to a safe temperature. Food thermometers are the only reliable way to ensure safety and determine the desired “doneness” of meat, poultry and egg products. According to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, “Doneness,” refers to when a food is cooked to a desired state and indicates the sensory aspects of foods such as texture, appearance and juiciness. These sensory aspects are subjective. A minimum safe internal temperature for most raw meats, including beef, pork and lamb, is 145 degrees Fahrenheit and 165 degrees for poultry.
- Refrigerate food within two hours and be cautious with leftovers. Remember the 2-2-4 Rule. Hot, perishable foods that sit out longer than two hours are considered unsafe to eat. The USDA recommends throwing away any such food, as it is in the danger zone, where bacteria can rapidly produce. two-inches is the desired depth of storage containers, as it allows hot food to cool quickly and evenly. Four days is the amount of time that refrigerated leftovers are safe to eat.
- Wash your hands frequently when handling food.
- In addition to food safety, be mindful of basic kitchen and fire safety practices. Use safety with knives and working around hot surfaces and watch small children carefully in the kitchen. Ensure a working smoke detector is installed in the kitchen and a fire extinguisher is in reach. The use of turkey fryers has risen in recent years, but with their popularity, so has injuries and incidents. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports there have been 168 turkey-fryer related fires, burns, explosions or carbon monoxide poisoning incidents since 2002 resulting in nearly 672 people injured and $8 million in property damage losses.
This topic is just one of the lessons children learn when they attend a Progressive Agriculture Safety Day® in their local community.
For 2019, 25 years of Progressive Agriculture Safety Days® will be celebrated with more than 400 events planned in rural communities throughout North America.
In Clearfield County, Clearfield County Safe Kids and Penn State Extension are partnering to host the 13th annual Progressive Agriculture Safety Day® for second-grade students in local school districts throughout the county next September at the Clearfield County Fairgrounds. For more about this program, visit www.progressiveag.org.
Clearfield County Safe Kids is part of Safe Kids Worldwide (http://www.safekids.org/), a global organization dedicated to preventing injuries in children, the number one killer of kids in the United States.
For more information, please contact Judy Patterson, nutrition-safety advisor for Cen-Clear, at 814-342-5678 Ext. 2264.
The coalition always welcomes new members and traditionally meets the third Tuesday during the months of January, March, May, July, September and November at 12 p.m. at Cen-Clear Child Services, 50 Bigler Rd., Bigler. The next meeting will be on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019.
Donations to the local Clearfield County Safe Kids Coalition are tax-deductible and can help ensure the word about safe practices can be spread all year-long. Connect the coalition through its Facebook page.