Seafood, cheeses, salads and desserts, together with the more traditional dishes, will make their appearance on holiday tables between Christmas and New Year. And these are precisely the dishes to which we must pay maximum attention and respect hygiene standards to prevent gastro-food poisoning. With excess food ingested these days, our digestive system risks being more vulnerable: so be careful not to expose yourself to pathogenic bacteria that could ruin your holidays and end-of-year celebrations.
Here are some tips to keep in mind when preparing the dishes most at risk of food poisoning, suggested by the French site TopSantè. We start from fish and seafood, often served on the table as an appetizer on Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve dinner: raw they can hide a parasitic risk, but even marinating is often not enough to reduce it, and regardless of the preparation, they are also sensitive to the Listeria bacterium. There are two fundamental safety rules: first of all, always wash your hands and surfaces before and after preparing seafood; Secondly, always follow the 2-4 hour rule, meaning you can serve food if it has been at room temperature for two hours or less. It can then return to the refrigerator, but the timer restarts with any additional time spent outside the refrigerator. Once the food has spent 4 hours at room temperature, it absolutely cannot be eaten and must be discarded.
As for oysters, equally popular during the Christmas holidays, if raw they can be a source of harmful bacteria: Vibrio vulnificus, which can cause a potentially fatal disease. People with medical conditions who have a compromised immune system, liver disease or diabetes are particularly susceptible to this bacterium. Adding spicy Tabasco sauce, hot chili sauce, lemon juice or alcohol to oysters can kill some germs, but none will kill Vibrio vulnificus. The only safe way to consume oysters is to make sure they are well cooked, otherwise, for raw ones, make sure you buy them from a trusted producer or restaurant that follows strict hygiene measures.
Not just fish. Also the roast turkey, the main dish of many Christmas lunches, can hide pitfalls: in the oven, in fact, even the central part of the meat must reach 74° degrees centigrade to guarantee the destruction of pathogens such as Salmonella and Campylobacter. It is therefore worth investing in a meat thermometer to know when it is ready, as color is not always a good indicator. It's still: soft cheeses such as brie, camembert, ricotta, feta, mozzarella and blue cheese present a risk of the presence of Listeria monocytogenes. This bacterium is particularly dangerous for vulnerable populations, including pregnant women, the elderly or immunocompromised people, who should therefore avoid these types of cheeses completely. For the rest of the population, the safest method is still the 2-4 hour rule.
Also salads and raw vegetables they are a must at parties to accompany the richest traditional dishes. They also require special handling because they are at risk for Listeria, Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Hepatitis A, Norovirus, Cyclospora and many others. To keep these unwanted guests away from the salad, it is advisable to always use different cutting boards from those used for meat and raw products, and to always keep them in the refrigerator. Another tip: when preparing it, it is better to wash your hands often than to wear gloves, as these do not protect against cross-contamination.
Finally the dessert: the chocolate log is certainly the most loved dessert at Christmas, but there are those who prefer the pavlova, made with meringue filled with cream and fruit, or cream desserts. Well: in general, raw egg desserts are all at risk of bacteria such as E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria. Hence the recommendation to always wash your hands before handling ingredients such as fruit and use clean utensils to whip cream. Also in this case, when bringing it to the table, respect the 2-4 hour rule once the cream has been removed from the fridge.
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