Preparing food to share with family and friends at potlucks and cookie swaps is a highlight of the holiday season. But giving the gift of an upset stomach can ruin a holiday. If you’re preparing food, keep bacteria and foodborne illness at bay by following some simple food safety steps, and if you’re the recipient of prepared or mail-order foods, use your best judgment about how safe the item is.
• If you think a gift you’ve received hasn’t been properly refrigerated during the trip, don’t risk making yourself and your family ill. Food gifts that arrive in the mail labeled “keep refrigerated” should arrive cold.
• If a perishable food arrives warm, above a temperature of 40 degrees, call the company and request a replacement.
• Smoked poultry and hams have a unique flavor but are not protected from growing bacteria — smoked food should arrive cold. The exceptions are country hams and dry sausages, which are dry and have a high salt content—both of which are protective.
• Refrigerated food like cheese balls should arrive chilled and be refrigerated promptly.
• Ask cookie swap participants to prepackage their cookies in a specific number to minimize how many hands touch the cookies and to protect them from sneezes and sniffles.
• When baking cookies remind yourself not to eat cookie dough made with raw eggs: Don’t lick the spoon or the mixing bowl.
• Egg recipes such as eggnogs, cream pies and those special cakes made with whipped cream or cream cheese frostings should be refrigerated.
• If you like to make a traditional eggnog using eggs but don’t want to spring for pasteurized eggs, here is a food safety tip. First, the egg-milk mixture should cook to 160 degrees followed by quick cooling and refrigerating. Adding alcohol will not kill the bacteria.
The holidays are a favorite time of the year. We all love to treat our tummies. By following a few simple precautions, your holiday food traditions won’t be marred by bacteria that could be lurking out of sight.
Shirley Perryman, M.S., R.D., is an Extension Specialist at Colorado State University’s Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition.
