Food safety specialist gives holiday food warnings

Now that student’s are full with Turkey, it is important to learn safety procedures for handling leftovers. Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences help with food safety and shared tips for the holiday season. These tips can be used for the leftover turkey now, but also for the future holiday season. The first of the colleges established at Penn State, the College of Agricultural Sciences awarded the nation’s first four-year baccalaureate degrees in agriculture in 1861. According to a food safety specialist at Penn State, if the leftover turkey from Thanksgiving is not stored properly, can lead to stomach pains, vomiting or worse.

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“The holiday season is a time of good food and festivities, but it is also a time for foodborne illness outbreaks,” said Martin Bucknavage, senior food safety extension associate. “While safe food preparation is critical, what we do with the turkey after it is served is also important. Leftovers, if not properly handled, including prompt refrigeration, can be dangerous.”

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Bucknavage referenced two different outbreaks related to holiday leftovers to illustrate his point. The first, in 2014, caused a dozen night shift postal workers in North Carolina to be hospitalized for food poisoning. The cause of their illnesses was eating unrefrigerated leftovers from a potluck dinner earlier in the day.

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Another outbreak in 2015, also in North Carolina, 40 people became ill with severe vomiting because the turkey and stuffing sat at a higher than recommended temperature after cooking.

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Bucknavage suggests refrigerating foods soon after the meal is finished. He states, “Do not leave cooked foods such as turkey or stuffing out on the table too long after serving.”

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He suggests that two hours after the food is cooked is the longest that food should be left out before it needs refrigerated or frozen. If foods are left out past the two-hour mark, it should be discarded. Although making sure the leftovers make it into the fridge, it is also important to make sure food is stored at the right temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below. Bucknavage also suggests separating large amounts of food into smaller containers because “large quantities packed in the refrigerator will cool too slowly.”

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It is also important to freeze anything that would not be used within three to four days.

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Addition to providing education about food safety, food safety research conducted by scientists in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has helped with the safety of the nation’s food supply. Researchers are currently exploring ways to trace foodborne illness outbreaks more quickly so that they can be stopped at the source, studying methods to identify and eliminate antibiotic-resistant pathogens, and developing novel processing technologies to kill bacteria without damaging the food they contaminate.

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For more food safety tips or to learn more about the college, visit Penn State Extension's website at https://extension.psu.edu/food-safety-and-processing/home-food-safety.