Turkey Day Food Safety From the Pros
"USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service has a variety of food safety resources to help with any questions related to preparing Thanksgiving dinner, including our Meat and Poultry Hotline that will be staffed will helpful experts on Thanksgiving Day," said Al Almanza, USDA's deputy under secretary for Food Safety.
"Thanksgiving is the largest meal many cooks prepare every year. Its centerpiece—the turkey—is the largest dish most cooks ever encounter, and many are not experienced at roasting one," USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) tells us in its Thanksgiving food safety message, which offers consumers advice and resources to surmount any food preparation problems this year. The resources include smartphone apps, its Meat and Poultry Hotline (call 1-888-MPHotline, or 1-888-674-6854, to talk to a food safety expert), and AskKaren.gov, where cooks can chat live with a food safety expert from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern weekdays, in English or Spanish.
USDA reports that more than 46 million turkeys will be cooked and eaten this Thanksgiving. "Cooking the Thanksgiving turkey can be tricky, and trying to figure out when the turkey is done is often the hardest task. But, it doesn't have to be! Impress your family by using a food thermometer to cook like a PRO: Place the thermometer, Read the temperature, Out of the oven," FSIS advises.
"Unsafe handling and undercooking of your turkey can lead to serious foodborne illness," said Al Almanza, USDA's deputy under secretary for Food Safety. "USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service has a variety of food safety resources to help with any questions related to preparing Thanksgiving dinner, including our Meat and Poultry Hotline that will be staffed will helpful experts on Thanksgiving Day."
FoodKeeper is an app created by FSIS in partnership with The Food Marketing Institute and Cornell University. It offers storage advice on more than 400 food and beverage items and can help you decide what to keep and what to discard, and it offers guidance on leftovers.
Consumers can visit FoodSafety.gov to learn more about how to safely select, thaw, and prepare a turkey. FSIS also is providing Thanksgiving food safety information this month at @USDAFoodSafety and Facebook.com/FoodSafety.gov.