Food, Friends and Family all go together during the holidays. Make sure this year you don’t add any unwanted guests when you are serving up the delicious holiday menu. Whether it’s a traditional dish or a new one you want to try, you still want to make sure that its prepared and served safely. Here are some tips to help you keep the holidays food safe so you are ready for a Healthy New Year!
Buffet Tips- If you are planning buffet style meals, you want to make sure that you don’t have food out too long. Watch the clock, replace food that has been out for 2 hours.
- Keep it Fresh! Prepare multiple serving dishes to replace the ones that have been sitting for a while. Try not to just add new food to existing food platters and trays. This cuts down on possible bacteria that may have gotten on the foods as they were sitting out.
- Keep the Hot foods Hot – at or above 135ºF and Cold Foods Cold - at or below 40ºF
- Use a food thermometer that can measure cold and hot foods to make sure they are staying where they need to be.
- Store your back-up dishes in the refrigerator that need to keep cold and hot dishes in the oven set to 200ºF to 250ºF.
Reduce Risk from Un-cooked Foods
- Some of our traditional family recipes may call for raw or lightly cooked eggs. They may be Caesar salad dressings, eggnog, custard or other desserts, which if made the old way would increase our risk for Salmonella.
- Use pasteurized eggs in place of regular eggs to make these items safe.
- Cook ready-to-cook foods like cookie dough before eating. These types of items still have raw eggs and other ingredients and need to be cooked to ensure safety.
