Practice food safety during your holiday celebrations

With the holidays coming up, you can keep your friends and family safe while enjoying your delicious food by following the Center for Disease Control’s four steps for prevent food poisoning.

Clean: Wash your hands, surfaces and utensils after preparing each food item. Hot, soapy water is your friend in the fight against bacteria.

Separate: Keeping raw meat, poultry, seafood and eggs separate is key to preventing cross-contamination.

Cook: Food is safely cooked when internal temperatures are high enough to kill germs. Temperatures vary by food so be sure to check the safe temperature for what you are cooking.  You can’t tell by looking, so be sure to use a thermometer.

Chill: Refrigerate leftovers promptly. Bacteria can multiply rapidly when in temperatures between 40°F and 140°F. Never leave perishable food out of the refrigerator for more than two hours (or one hour if above 90°F).

For complete information on the four steps to preventing food poisoning, visit cdc.gov/food-safety.