Knowledge the Key to Safe Thanksgiving Dining
November 18, 1996
Greensboro, NC: Thanksgiving is a time when many people disregard their diets in
favor of an extra helping of pumpkin pie. While this is an excusable and accepted
practice, food handling procedures cannot be taken as lightly.
"Often, during the holidays, people find themselves preparing different types of food
and large quantities of food to feed large groups of people," said Dr. Aubrey
Mendonca, a food safety research scientist with North Carolina A&T State University's
School of Agriculture. "As a result, the potential for food-borne illness
increases."
Turkey is a staple of most everyone's Thanksgiving diet, but if this dish is prepared
incorrectly, the consequences can be far-reaching.
Most turkeys are purchased frozen, and the size of the package makes a well-planned
thawing process extremely important.
"The safest way to thaw a turkey is to use a refrigerator to hold the turkey at 40 F
or less for several hours," said Mendonca. "Because microorganisms grow rapidly
at room temperature, potentially hazardous foods, such as red meats, poultry, fish, eggs
and egg products, should never be thawed at room temperature. Any thawing process that
exposes these foods to the temperature danger zone (between 40 to 140 F) for more than two
hours should be avoided."
Mendonca also explains that the size of the turkey determines how long it will take to
thaw.
The handling of thawed turkeys can also present problems, unless the proper precautions are taken. "Because uncooked poultry sometimes harbors dangerous organisms such as Salmonella and Campylobacter, care must be taken not to spread these organisms from hands, cutlery, cooking utensils, cutting boards, or anything else that comes in contact with the uncooked turkey," said Mendonca.
"Make sure that anything that touches the raw turkey is washed in hot soapy water
before it comes in contact with anything else. Also, when thawing the turkey, place it in
a pan on the lowest shelf of the refrigerator. This will prevent drippings from
contaminating other foods."
"The USDA recently warned against stuffing turkeys," said Mendonca. "Most
experts believe that it is best to cook the stuffing separately, since heat penetration in
bread-type products is extremely slow, especially when packed inside the turkey."
"However, if you intend to follow tradition and stuff your turkey, it is very
important to make sure that the turkey is cooked until the center of the stuffing is 165
F, and the internal temperature of the thickest part of the turkey (thigh or breast) is
180 F."
"It is difficult to tell when stuffing is undercooked by just looking at it or
tasting it; therefore, a meat thermometer should always be used to ensure that the center
of the stuffing reaches 165 F, the temperature required to kill pathogenic bacteria. It is
unsafe to stuff turkeys if you do not use a meat thermometer to measure the temperature
before serving."
Another potentially dangerous Thanksgiving tradition is leaving food sitting on tables and
counters throughout the day. "As simple as it may sound, it is important to keep hot
foods hot and cold foods cold. This is especially important with foods such as beef, pork,
poultry, fish, dairy products, potatoes, rice and beans. Such foods contain a lot of
moisture and nutrients to support microbial growth," said Mendonca. "Avoid
leaving these foods at room temperature for more than two hours."
Mendonca offers these recommendations on food storage and reheating: