News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2005		Contact: HHS Press Office (202) 690-6343 CDC Press Office (404) 639-3286 FDA Press Office (301) 827-6242

HHS Offers Food Safety Advice for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving dinner traditionally brings satisfaction and happy memories. But occasionally, it can bring trouble in the form of foodborne illness. So the Department of Health and Human Services, along with its Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), remind everyone who prepares the feast that proper food handling should be as much a part of the holiday as the turkey and stuffing.

�Four simple steps to keep food safe are like favorite recipes that satisfy everyone,� said Dr. Robert Brackett, director of FDA�s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. �However, with all the work that goes into getting the Thanksgiving meal on the table, steps sometimes get skipped.�

The four steps are:

• Clean: Wash hands and food-contact surfaces often. Bacteria can spread throughout the kitchen and get onto cutting boards, knives, sponges and counter tops.
• Separate: Don�t cross-contaminate. Don�t let bacteria spread from one food product to another. This is especially true for raw meat, poultry and seafood. Experts caution to keep these foods and their juices away from ready-to-eat foods.
• Cook: Cook to proper temperatures. Foods are properly cooked when they are heated for a long enough time and at a high enough temperature to kill the harmful bacteria that cause foodborne illness.
• Chill: Refrigerate promptly. Public health officials advise consumers to refrigerate foods quickly because cold temperatures keep most harmful bacteria from growing and multiplying. Refrigerators should be set at 40 degrees F and the freezer at 0 degrees F, and the accuracy of the settings should be checked occasionally with a thermometer.

Just the same, the holidays don�t make it easy for people to take that advice.

�Consumers are dealing with foods they might not often prepare -- a 20-pound turkey, for instance. And many people also are unused to getting the cooking schedules right as they juggle the large number of dishes that go into a traditional holiday dinner,� said Dr. Robert Tauxe, chief of CDC�s Foodborne Illness Branch.

That 20-pound turkey is one example. It could take from four hours, 45 minutes to five hours, 15 minutes to cook completely. To check, insert a food thermometer into the inner thigh area near the breast but not touching bone. The turkey is done at 180 degrees. If the bird is stuffed, the stuffing should be 165 degrees.

With the turkey and all the trimmings come extra calories. But physical activity, along with some moderation at the table, can help people fight holiday weight gain. A Thanksgiving walk with the family can be a step toward calorie control and another good memory of time together.

General information on foodborne illness is available at http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/list.html. Also a Web site for holiday food and drink safety is available at http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/foodrink.html.