With Thanksgiving coming up, experts are giving out food safety tips.
Bryan Mader, Assistant Professor of Health at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, says much of the food we eat at Thanksgiving can cause food poisoning if not cooked correctly.
“All of the food that we consume always has trace amounts of those foodborne pathogens on them,” he said. “Our immune systems just do a very good job of fighting those off. Foodborne illness occurs whenever the bacteria or the foodborne pathogen is multiplied to the point where our immune systems can no longer fight.”
Food poisoning and salmonella can be an incredibly uncomfortable illness causing severe gastrointestinal distress and nausea. In rare cases, food poisoning can cause hospitalization and death.
Mader says you can combat food-borne illnesses by cooking food at a high temperature to kill all dangerous bacteria. He also recommends washing hands regularly.
Mader also says many people still wash their turkeys because they don't know the negative health outcomes.
“If you have this giant turkey in a small sink, imagine where the water is going to go and bounce off of,” he said. “And then that water is on your utensils, on your plates. That is one of the main ways things like salmonella spread.”
Christine Sasse, a registered dietitian with the Arkansas Department of Health, says people should be careful with leaving food out. She says things like charcuterie boards can cause food poisoning.
She recommends not leaving food out for more than two hours, and to be careful with leftovers.
“Finish those leftovers in four days or throw them out," she said. “There’s more attention being paid to food waste and that’s a serious issue that we need to look at. [At] four days, that's when we need to go ahead and realize that safety comes first.”
Leftovers should be reheated at 165 degrees Fahrenheit or about 78 degrees Celsius. Other food safety tips include washing your hands regularly and not washing meat which can cause bacteria to spread.
