USDA Provides Tips to Keep Holiday Food Safe at Home or When Traveling

USDA Provides Tips to Keep Holiday Food Safe at Home or When Traveling

Russell Nemetz
Russell Nemetz
Hi everybody it's time for your Land and Livestock Report here on the Ag Information Network of the West-I'm Russell Nemetz.

The most wonderful time of the year is already here. Some of us stay home for the holidays; others travel to visit relatives or friends. Regardless of the destination, one thing that does not change is that food is always part of the celebration.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is here to share food safety tips to ensure the food you prepare for your friends and family is safe and your holiday season won't be remembered for the wrong reason - food poisoning.

Holiday Food Safety 'To Do' List for Cooking and Traveling:

Let's start our 'to do' list with USDA's four steps to food safety: CLEAN, SEPARATE, COOK and CHILL.

Clean your hands for 20 seconds with soapy water. Always serve food on clean plates and avoid reusing plates that previously held raw meat and poultry.

Separate raw and cooked foods so you don't cross contaminate.

Cook using a food thermometer to make sure food reaches a safe minimum internal temperature.

Chill leftovers within two hours of cooking. Keep track of how long items have been sitting on the buffet table and discard anything that has been out longer than two hours.

Consumers can learn more about key food safety practices at foodsafety.gov and follow @USDAFoodSafety on Twitter. Consumers with questions about food safety can call the USDAMeat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) or chat live with a food safety specialist in English or Spanish at AskKaren.gov, available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday.

That's your Land and Livestock Report-I'm Russell Nemetz.

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