Have a food safe holiday season!
Food safety is the most important ingredient in preparing for the holidays. Improper food handling and undercooked foods can cause foodborne illness and make your guests sick. Following safe food handling and cooking practices can help keep your celebrations safe and enjoyable. Watch FDA's Holiday Food Safety Videos (available in English and Spanish) to learn how to store, prepare, and serve food safely to prevent foodborne illness from ruining the holidays.
Staying Healthy with Food Safety
Healthy eating is not only about choosing nutritious foods, but also about eating foods that are manufactured and prepared safely. Foodborne illness can be prevented at home and in restaurants by following a few simple steps.
- Clean: Wash hands, utensils, and cutting boards before and after contact with raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs.
- Separate: Keep raw meat and poultry away from foods that won’t be cooked.
- Cook: Use a food thermometer - you can’t tell if food is cooked safely by how it looks.
- Chill: Refrigerate leftovers within two hours and keep the fridge at 40 °F or below.
What You Should Do
- Let us know if you have a foodborne illness from a restaurant or food establishment.
- Check out food inspection reports for your favorite restaurants.
- Dispose of any food that has spoiled during a power outage.
- If you are opening a new food establishment, make sure you follow the correct procedures to get the proper license.
- If you operate a food establishment that prepares potentially hazardous food, YOU MUST employ at least one certified food safety manager.
