The one sure way to ruin your holiday festivities is to give your dinner guests the gift that keeps on giving — for hours, if not days. That is a gift of a bout of foodborne illness, better known food poisoning.
Annually, 1 in 6 Americans gets sick from consuming contaminated foods. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, raw foods from animal sources such as meat, poultry, eggs, unpasteurized milk and raw shellfish are the chief culprits in carrying the pathogens that can make you dreadfully sick.
Festivities that last for many hours also can pose many problems. “Foods served buffet-style at parties tend to sit out for hours without refrigeration or heat, increasing the risk for foodborne illness,” says registered dietitian nutritionist Alissa Rumsey, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. If you’re planning a holiday buffet, you need to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold to reduce the risk of food poisoning .
To keep you and your guests safe this holiday season, use these five tips from the Food and Drug Administration:
Tip No. 1: Size Matters
If you’re planning a buffet at home and are not sure how quickly the food will be eaten, keep buffet serving portions small. Prepare a number of small platters and dishes ahead of time, and replace each empty serving dish with a fresh one throughout the party.
Store cold back-up dishes in the refrigerator or keep hot dishes in the oven set at 200 degrees Fahrenheit to 250 degrees Fahrenheit prior to serving. This way, your late-arriving guests can enjoy the same appetizing arrangements as the early arrivals.
Tip No. 2: Take Temperatures
Hot foods should be kept at an internal temperature of 140 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer. Check the food often with a good thermometer. Serve or keep food hot in chafing dishes and slow cookers. If using a warming tray, be aware that some warmers only hold food at 110 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
Tip No. 3: Chill Out
Cold foods should be kept at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or colder. Keep cold foods refrigerated until serving time. If food is going to stay out on the buffet table longer than two hours, place plates of cold food, like shrimp, on ice to retain the chill.
Tip No. 4: Keep It Fresh<
Don’t add new food to an already-filled serving dish. Instead, replace nearly-empty serving dishes with freshly-filled ones. Be aware that during the course of the party, bacteria from people’s hands can contaminate the food. Plus, bacteria can multiply at room temperature.
Tip No. 5: Watch the Clock
Remember the two-hour rule: Discard any perishables left out at room temperature for more than two hours, unless you’re keeping it hot or cold. If the buffet is held in a place where the temperature is above 90 degrees Fahrenheit, the safe-holding time is reduced to one hour. Whether you’re sending “doggie bags” home with guests or are saving them for yourself, leftovers should be refrigerated as soon as guests arrive home and/or within two hours.
