How to safely prepare and eat food during holiday gatherings

CORALVILLE — This holiday season, refrigerators and kitchens will become a revolving door for food and drinks — a big source of merriment among many family and friends.

But it’s also the most wonderful time of the year for foodborne pathogens that can cause serious illness — even if you’re on the nice list.

Whether you’re serving buffet style, having a potluck or transporting food, there are a few simple rules to keep yourself safe from E. coli, salmonella and more.

“Let’s face it: family and friends don’t have a health inspector coming into their kitchen,” said Dr. Mike Pentella, director of the State Hygienic Laboratory at the University of Iowa. “There’s a risk that there’s a breakdown in the (food preparation) system.”

To keep uninvited guests out of your home for a healthy holiday season and happy new year, follow these 10 golden rules for safe food preparation.

  Buy Photo

  Buy Photo

1. Choose quality foods and transport them safely

“In preparing food, there’s a lot of places where things can breakdown,” Pentella said. “It starts with the purchase of the food itself.”

Keep an eye out at the grocery store for expiration dates, making sure not to accidentally buy food that may have been on the shelf too long. If you’re drinking eggnog, buy a pasteurized product and be sure to consume it before it expires.

In warm weather, keeping food cool during errands can be a challenge, so Pentella advises doing grocery shopping last during the summer in Iowa. If the outside temperature is below 40 degrees, keeping groceries in a cold trunk that isn’t heated with the rest of your vehicle’s cabin should be sufficient.

If you put your groceries in your vehicle’s cabin, or drive a car where the trunk doesn’t have much separation from the temperature of the cabin, keep insulated bags and coolers on hand for storing during the drive.

“The temperature in the car can impact food because it can allow the bacteria in food — because food isn’t sterile — to grow,” Pentella said.

Coolers and ice packs should especially be used for transporting food more than 20 minutes. During drives to family across the state, keep cold foods cold and warm foods warm.

  Buy Photo

2. Wash hands frequently

For those in the kitchen preparing food: wash your hands frequently — before preparing food, after touching raw meat and after touching other sources of bacteria, like the family pet trying to help out during the festivities.

Those who have had gastrointestinal illness or symptoms within the week before preparing food should avoid cooking for others, if possible. Those who have no choice in preparing food for others, like mothers with children, have to rely on very stringent hand-washing.

The pandemic taught many the proper hand-washing technique: wet hands under warm or cold water, lather with soap and rub hands together vigorously for at least 20 seconds before rinsing and drying well.

In addition to E. coli and salmonella, norovirus is a “biggie” this time of year, Pentella said. Hand-washing helps prevent its spread.

3. Keep food prep areas meticulously clean

In addition to good hand hygiene, keeping countertops and kitchen preparation areas meticulously clean is of utmost importance.

Soap and water should be sufficient, Pentella said, but using a common disinfectant for surfaces is a good idea around the holidays too, when there are extra hands helping to make light work.

For those preparing meat, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration advises consumers to not wash chicken or meat before cooking, as it spreads salmonella in sinks and on countertops.

4. Cook foods thoroughly

Make sure meat is cooked to the appropriate internal temperature — 165 degrees for chicken and many hot foods, for example. Use a meat or food thermometer to measure the internal temperature as you cook.

In addition to the other viruses mentioned, campylobacter from undercooked chicken is a risk to watch for. As a non-reportable infection, the illness is less known than other foodborne pathogens.

5. Eat cooked foods immediately

It’s safe to leave hot foods out for about two hours before it needs to be put away in the refrigerator, Pentella said.

6. Store cooked foods carefully

In addition to careful handling during transportation under the first rule listed, cooked foods should be stored in the refrigerator at a temperature of about 35 to 38 degrees. Bacteria in food starts to multiply when food is kept over 40 degrees.

Pentella recommends keeping an additional thermometer in the refrigerator to verify that it’s at the right temperature — even if you can set the temperature digitally on your appliance.

7. Reheat cooked foods thoroughly

Keeping an eye on the temperature applies to those leftovers, too. Reheat food thoroughly — to about 165 degrees internally, Pentella said.

This also applies to reheating cooked food that has been transported in the car more than 20 minutes to a holiday dinner.

8. Avoid contact between raw food and cooked food

Importantly, this includes cross contamination that may come from your own hands. Wash hands thoroughly after touching raw meat — before you touch anything else.

Along with proper cooking and food storage, contact between raw and cooked food is one of the biggest pitfalls for foodborne pathogens, Pentella said.

9. Protect food from pests

Maybe it’s the household fly, maybe it’s the family dog. Keep ingredients safe from insects or rodents before they are used in cooking. Keep cooked food covered and out of reach from any creature while it’s out.

10. Use pure water

For most with indoor plumbing in Iowa, clean water is taken for granted. But many who rely on well water should be aware of what they’re drinking.

If you don’t know, it may be time to get your well water tested. Iowa’s Grants-to-Counties Well Water Program provides free testing to private well owners for bacteria, E. coli, nitrate, arsenic, manganese and PFAS, the “forever chemicals” linked to myriad health concerns including cancer, reproductive effects, child development, hormones, immune systems and cholesterol levels.

For those within city limits, many cities and towns offer regular reports on local water quality.

Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.