Food Safety at Christmas

All that food!

It is easy to get overwhelmed at Christmas time, with large numbers of guests, lots of food and drink, and sometimes some family dynamics into the mix. But don’t let food poisoning be a consequence of a great get together! Follow some simple food safety tips to keep the bugs at bay.

All those people!

If you have a large family, then many generations may appear at your Christmas table, and you need to be extra careful, for some of them may have vulnerabilities such as illnesses, may be immunocompromised, pregnant or just young or elderly! These people more than anyone need to be protected from getting infections.

So how can we have a safe but stress-free Christmas without having to check a rule book all the time!

Turkey

It is only once a year that we handle such a large piece of meat and there are important tips to help you make sure it is safe.

Defrosting

• You need to defrost a frozen turkey completely before cooking, or the heat may not penetrate all the way through on cooking.
• In addition to defrosting,  you need to make sure that the drip from it doesn’t contaminate foods or surfaces and utensils, and of course, also your hands

Handy hints

• Use a deep dish (or the roasting tin) to catch drip
• Sometimes the turkey is too big for the fridge, so put in a cold place such as porch or utility room (and protect from pets)
• Work backwards in accordance with instructions on the label to work out when the defrosting needs to start. In the fridge you may need 24 hours per 2-2.5kg, so prepare for a long time. In a cool room, it will defrost faster, but you don’t want it hanging around too long afterwards either.
• To be honest, fresh is less stressy!

Giblets!

• Don’t forget to check inside the bird for a bag of giblets (all sorts of bits including the liver).
• Take the bag out and boil the contents up to help with the gravy if you like the flavour, or dispose of it.
• Wash your hands after handling the bag – there could be lots of bacteria on it and also disinfect any surfaces you have touched with dirty hands or where the bag has been.

Washing the turkey – NO NO NO! This splashes bacteria such as Salmonella and Campylobacter all over the place, ready to land on your surfaces, dishcloths, and even nearby food. You don’t need to wash it because cooking kills the bacteria – so don’t!

Stuffing

If you make stuffing, cook it separately. If you were to put it inside the turkey cavity you are effectively increasing the density and weight of the bird, so that could affect cooking times and temperatures. You could end up with an undercooked bird.

Cooking

• Turkey, unlike an unrolled beef joint, needs cooking all the way through.
• Whilst you will have instructions on how long to cook per kg of bird, the only way to be absolutely sure you have a safe cook is to use a food thermometer and cook to temperature not time. Read my blog on thermometers if you need to find out where to get a thermometer.
• Aim for an end point of 75°C in the thickest part.
• This will make sure you have killed bacteria such as Salmonella and Campylobacter which could be found in the bird. You can bring it out of the oven a little short of that temperature (say 67°C) and keep the thermometer in – you will see it continues to rise and make sure it does till it gets to 75°C in the thickest part. Otherwise, back in the oven!
• Don’t rely on visual indicators such as “juices running clear” – this was back in the day before we had thermometers at our fingertips to remove all doubt – why make life difficult for yourself?

Veggies

Did you know that it is not just meat and poultry you need to be careful about but also vegetables.

There have been E.coli outbreaks associated with leeks, spinach, potatoes and many other foods. Basically, any food grown where there is a risk of contamination from faeces (manure for example) could be contaminated, so clean and disinfect after preparation, and that includes the sink – and wash your hands. Rice and cereals also contain spore forming bacteria which wake up after boiling and can produce toxins which cause food poisoning. That’s why cooling quickly is so important (see below).

Cleaning up

Don’t forget that anywhere that you may have touched with germy fingers may be contaminated waiting for someone to touch the dirty surface and take the germs elsewhere, or even into their mouths! Clean and disinfect surfaces after handling raw foods and before preparing cooked foods. And wash your hands!

Leftovers

We overdo it at Christmas, which means there are lots of leftovers. Often, I think they are even nicer the next day! Bacteria grow happily in food in warm kitchens!

However, there are some simple rules to follow, as one of the big mistakes in food safety is not cooling leftovers down quickly and not getting them in the fridge to keep cool. Here are some hints:

• Cool large quantities of food quickly by spreading them out on a clean baking tray.
• For gravy put the saucepan in a cold water bath and stir.
• Pick the meat off the turkey so that it cools quickly, but make sure your hands are super clean first.
• Once food has reached room temperature it’s not going to cool any more. Aim to get to this point in about 2 hours after cooking.
• Keep leftovers for just 2 days – if you think you have too much, then pack, label and freeze meat for pies and soups at a later date. Vegetables can also go in the freezer for soups.
• Reheat left overs till 75°C all the way through – check pieces of meat as gravy can be boiling but meat is still cold.

Eggs

Sunny side up or runny boiled eggs for breakfast? Make sure you choose Lion Eggs – if they have a lion stamped on them they are free of Salmonella, so one less thing to worry about. Duck and Geese eggs are not in this category, so don’t serve runny, particularly to elderly, young, pregnant or otherwise unwell guests.

Pregnant guests

If you have any unpasteurised cheeses on the cheeseboard, make it clear so those who are pregnant can avoid them.

Buffets

If you are having a party, put the food out at the last minute, and don’t leave out for more than 4 hours.

Hold some food back in the fridge to replace empty plates rather than topping up.

If you can, follow the example of many people in my road who label their dishes with cute little stand up flags so that people don’t take things they don’t like – or worse, are allergic to.

 Fridge too full?

It’s all very well saying put leftovers in the fridge but what happens if there is no room?!

This is where you need to rationalise. People often keep stuff in the fridge that needn’t be there – one of my friends puts marmite and peanut butter in the fridge – no need and the marmite is rock hard and unspreadable!!

• So, first of all, see what doesn’t need to be refrigerated.
• For a few days, root vegetables could be quite easily removed and put in a box in a cool porch or garage (protect from nibbly creatures though).
• Equally if things are really tight, take out some of the booze, put in the coolest place in the house and chill with ice before serving.
• Some condiments and preserves such as jam could leave the fridge for a few days to make room for the riskier foods such as cooked meats and other left-overs.
• Make sure there is some space for air to circulate in the fridge – don’t pack it too much
• Check the temperature is 5°C or below – use a fridge thermometer or the digital display that most fridges have.
• Give the fridge a clean before Christmas!! Chuck out anything old lurking in the back….

Allergic guests

You may have never prepared food for someone with an allergy and suddenly you need to think very carefully about a new safety issue! You may even have several guests with different allergies to be careful about – the guests themselves will be very clued up and can help you to understand their needs, but you don’t want any slip ups!

Read the label – any foods in packs will have labels listing ingredients, with the top 14 allergens in bold type, but of course you may have a guest with an allergy to any of the over 170 foods reported to cause reactions in some people.

Preparing food safely for allergic guests

All surfaces and utensils need to be cleaned before you start preparing food just in case the allergen in question has been there previously. Separate the foods during storage if you can, or protect with containers or bags and sealed clips.

For coeliacs even the toaster is a no no if it has been used for bread with gluten previously. Buy some gluten free products but keep them safe from contamination when preparing and serving. For more information about allergens, visit the allergy websites such as Allergy UK.

Thermometers

I believe everyone should have a food thermometer, afterwards clean the tip in soapy water and disinfect in a cup of just boiled water. You can buy thermometers fairly cheaply. Most of my friends have had one for a present! (Not that I am a cheap skate). Read my blog about thermometers and buy through my affiliated links.

Oysters

If you are in the mood for some posh food, and think oysters may be a good idea, think very carefully! Norovirus is a real risk, and whilst tests for E. coli may be clear, norovirus may be present and they don’t test for that. Think about where they come from, how they have been stored (on ice), whether the shells are still closed and if there has been heavy rain recently! Heavy rain leads to excess water flooding into many the sewerage systems, which then may discharge untreated sewage into estuaries – which is where oysters are grown! Personally, oysters are off my menu unless deep fried in tempura batter with horseradish crème fraîche.