Sure, you’re not serving mayonnaise-laden salads in sweltering July temperatures, but foodborne illnesses can strike just as easily in cold weather, indoors, at an all-day buffet or even while lingering for hours over a family table still loaded with potential third helpings. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), outbreaks of Clostridium perfringens, the most common cause of food poisoning in the United States, which cause nearly one million illnesses every year, occur most frequently in November and December. We tapped some food safety pros for their advice on common mishandling of some favorite holiday foods, and how to stay safe while stuffing yourself.
1. Freshen Up Your Holiday Buffet
A fully stocked buffet makes for an impressive holiday spread, but the general rule for letting food — hot or cold — sit out is about two hours at room temperature, says Janilyn Hutchings, a certified food safety professional and food scientist at StateFoodSafety, a food safety certification and training program for the hospitality industry, based in Orem, Utah. For that reason, it’s a better idea to set out smaller amounts and replenish them more frequently. To save on time, you can arrange several platters and keep them refrigerated until needed. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also advises swapping in new serving dishes and utensils rather than simply adding fresh food to the ones you’ve already set out. If any bacteria or other germs have begun to grow, you’ll avoid them. RELATED: 15 Foods You Need in Any Emergency
2. Chill Soups and Stews Properly
Bacteria tends to grow quickly in temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees F, so perishable food should be never be left out at room temperature for more than two hours, according to the CDC. This can be challenging when you have large amounts of hot food like soups and stews, because if they haven’t cooled enough, they can actually raise the temperature in your fridge to an unsafe level temporarily, putting other foods in there at risk, says Kim Rose, RDN, a registered dietitian for the meal delivery service Splendid Spoon and clinical nutrition manager for HCA Healthcare in Lakeland, Florida. Make sure your fridge is set to 40 degrees F or lower, and that soups and stews are adequately cooled before you refrigerate them. You can divide large pots into smaller, shallow containers to help them cool faster, or set them in an ice bath, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service.
3. Be Cautious With Deli Meats
Holiday lunch buffets often feature sandwich options like deli meat, and unopened packages of these can last about two weeks in your fridge, according to FoodSafety.gov. Once opened — or if they’re from the deli counter instead of commercially sealed — you’ll have about three to five days to use them. Cold cuts can be a source of Listeria monocytogenes — in fact, one outbreak in 2020 that hospitalized 12 people and killed one was linked to listeria in Italian deli meats, according to CDC data. This germ is also the reason pregnant women are often cautioned against eating cold cuts. If you’re serving any kind of deli meat, put out small amounts and refresh the buffet as needed, recommends Hutchings. These meats can be unsafe after just an hour or two outside the refrigerator. RELATED: 6 Secrets for Keeping Produce From Going Bad
4. Prewash Raw Produce
Fruits and veggies are supposed to be good for us, so you probably think a nice tray of raw produce with some dip is a good option. And it is — as long as you wash it before slicing, chopping, or peeling. All too often, people don’t wash fruits and vegetables that don’t have edible skins, but the bacteria on the outer parts can easily be transferred to the edible portions on a knife, according to the CDC. It’s always best to wash produce under running water, and use a bristle brush to scrub those with craggy surfaces, like avocado and cantaloupe.
5. Don’t Let Roasts Rest Too Long
Remember Clostridium perfringens, that bacteria sickening people each November and December? Well it’s commonly found in cooked foods that are served during the holidays, such as turkey and roast beef, according to the FDA. Letting these big roasts sit out at room temperature for too long turns them into a breeding ground for C. perfringens. As a way to lower risk, consider carving the turkey or slicing other meats in the kitchen and putting half on a serving tray, then refrigerating the rest immediately.
6. Use Pasteurized Eggs
Several holiday favorites contain raw eggs or yolks, including eggnog, hollandaise sauce, tiramisu, and Caesar dressing. Because of that, the CDC suggests using pasteurized eggs for these dishes, and to keep in mind that salmonella can live on the outside and inside of eggs. That means you should keep eggs separate from other foods, ideally in their original carton, to prevent cross-contamination. RELATED: Weeknight Dinners That Turn Into Perfect Lunches
7. Refrigerate and Enjoy Leftovers Promptly
If you’re taking leftovers home from a party or dinner, you’ll want to be aware how long they’ve been sitting out and refrigerate them if it’s been close to two hours. Refrigerate or freeze them as soon as you get them home. How long they will last depends on the type of food you have — for example, hard cheeses will last longer than soft ones, according to the USDA —but a good rule of thumb is to eat leftovers within a week, says Hutchings. If you want to keep them longer, put them in the freezer, and eat within about one to two months. Whether you’re thawing them to reheat or taking them directly out of the fridge, do an inspection first, Hutchings adds. That’s true even if you put them in yesterday. “Take a look and definitely smell what you’re going to reheat,” she says. Not every food has a telltale sign of being off like sourness or discoloration, but many times, you may be able to detect something is spoiled. And like the old adage goes: When in doubt, throw it out.
