Your Guide to Safe Holiday Cooking: Tips from Tarrant County Public Health

Every year, one in six Americans experience foodborne illness. Proper food handling—from preparation to serving to storing leftovers—can save you the tummy ach and help protect your family from illness caused by common viruses and bacteria like norovirus, Salmonella, and Clostridium perfringens. Follow these simple steps to keep your holiday meals safe and prevent food poisoning.

Four Steps to Food Prep

1. Keep It Clean: Wash your hands, surfaces, and utensils thoroughly and often with warm, soapy water and disinfect surfaces between each cooking step, especially when handling raw meat. Be mindful of dirty dish towels, they can harbor bacteria and spread germs to clean dishes and surfaces.
2. Don’t Cross-Contaminate: Use separate cutting boards and utensils for raw meat, seafood, eggs, and for foods that are ready to eat. When taste-testing, use a clean utensil each time or ladle out a small portion into a separate dish.
   • Seafood: 145⁰
   • Red meats and pork: 155°F
   • Ground meats and poultry: 165°F
3. Cook Thoroughly: Don’t eyeball it! A food thermometer is the best way to ensure meat reaches a safe internal temperature. When checking, avoid touching the bone for an accurate reading, and clean your thermometer between uses to prevent contamination.
   Recommended minimum internal temperatures:
   • A home safety tip: Ensure that all meat headed to the fryer is 100 percent thawed to prevent grease fires when cooking.
4. Thaw Safely: Defrost frozen meat or seafood in the refrigerator, in a sink filled with cold water (changing the water every 30 minutes), or in the microwave following package instructions.

Smart Serving

Be mindful of the “danger zone,” where germs grow rapidly between 41°F and 135°F.

1. Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold: Hold hot foods at 140°F or warmer, and cold foods at 40°F or below.
2. Use clean utensils and plates: Never place cooked food back on a plate that previously held raw meat, poultry, or seafood without washing it thoroughly.
3. Don’t let food linger: Perishable foods should not sit at room temperature for more than two hours, or one hour if the temperature is above 90°F. Discard any food that has sat at room temperature for more than four hours without being refrigerated

Safe Storage

1. Cool food rapidly: Store prepared foods in shallow containers to help them cool quickly and safely.
   • Large batches, like soups or gravy, should be divided into smaller containers.
   • Large pieces of meat—such as roasts, turkey, or ham—should be cut into smaller portions before refrigerating.
2. Label and date: Track how long foods have been stored and consume leftovers within three to four days.
3. Reheat properly: Reheat leftovers to an internal temperature of 165°F before eating.