Essential Holiday Food Safety Tips

Simple ways to keep your meals safe, delicious, and stress-free this season.

From roasting turkey to baking sugar cookies, make sure you prepare food safely this holiday season. We’re here to help you have a great gathering with the following food safety tips.

Holiday Food Safety Tips

1. Wash Your Hands

Use warm water and soap and scrub for at least 20 seconds. Do not prepare foods if you are feeling ill, no matter how clean your hands are.

2. Keep Foods Separated

Meat juices and eggs can spread onto other foods that might not be cooked to proper temperatures (or cooked at all). They should be stored separately in the refrigerator. They should also be prepped separately, using different cutting boards for produce and for foods like meat that can grow germs. 

3. Cook Foods Thoroughly

Use a food thermometer to make sure proper temperatures have been reached to kill germs. Make sure that stuffing is cooked to 165°F.

4. Store Food Properly

Germs can grow quickly in the danger zone between 41°F and 135°F. Keep hot food hot and cold food cold. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours. Cooling foods need to be left uncovered, in the refrigerator, until they reach 41°F.

5. Thaw Your Turkey Safely

A turkey must thaw at a safe temperature to prevent harmful germs from growing quickly. The CDC has some detailed guidance on preparing turkey safely. Remember: Don't rinse or wash your turkey.

6. Use Pasteurized Eggs for Raw Recipes

Always use pasteurized eggs when making foods like eggnog, hollandaise sauce, Caesar dressing and other foods made with raw eggs.

7. Eat Holiday Cookies — Not Cookie Dough

Do not eat raw cookie dough. Untreated flour and raw eggs can grow germs. Always bake them before eating. You can buy edible cookie dough, which is made with heat-treated flour and pasteurized eggs or no eggs at all. Make sure to read the label to see if the dough is safe to eat raw.

8. Pumpkin Pie Needs Special Handling

If you make a pumpkin pie, it needs to be baked to 180°F. It should be cooled and stored in the refrigerator to prevent germs from growing. If you buy a commercially made pumpkin pie, they have added preservatives that keep them shelf stable and allow them to be stored at room temperature for sale. Make sure and look at the "sell by" date and the “refrigerate after opening” label. Once you open the pie, it should be stored in the refrigerator.