We are just a few days away from the Christmas holidays, a time in which we usually turn kitchens and tables into the central axis of our family and friends gatherings. Almost everything revolves around meals (ignoring the importance of gifts), which tend to also be more excessive and with a greater amount of food to handle and prepare. These are days when there is a lot to do and it is easy to forget the importance of certain hygiene and safe food preparation practices.
But no one wants to end up with an unexpected gift in the form of food poisoning, a problem that doesn’t stop even at this time. What can we do to prevent Campylobacter, Salmonella, E.coli either Listeria enter the menu during the holidays and not become surprise guests?
Buying, storing, preparing, cooking… There are numerous steps that we will have to take before we can put food on the table these holidays and many others that we must not forget when preparing the recipes.
Pre-Christmas plan
This step, although it may make us a little lazy, is essential. We must make a forecast and a list of the people we will have to cook for, plan meals and take into account any food allergies or other dietary restrictions. We already explained in this article that we can plan the purchase of some foods and freeze them in advance, always taking into account a series of precautions.
Check the temperature of the refrigerator
At Christmas we tend to buy more food than usual, which means we end up overfilling the fridge. However, we must keep in mind that the temperature inside can increase when it is full, which can encourage the proliferation of bacteria that cause food poisoning. To prevent this from happening, the key is to maintain the temperature between 0°C and 5°C.
A good way to save refrigerator space during these days is remove excess packagingsuch as yogurt cartons, for example, and thus avoid contamination of food and the refrigerator by microorganisms that can be found in these boxes and plastics.
Pay attention to hygiene in the kitchen
Hygiene doesn’t just mean washing our hands with hot water and soap before and after preparing food. As recalled by the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition (SEEN), it is important to pay attention to the refrigerator and freezer, the pantry, the area where we have garbage (always with a lid), keep cleaning products away from food and wash rags and cloths after each use.
Avoid cross contamination
In line with the previous advice, it is essential that we give each food its own cutting board and knife. Because raw and cooked foods do not go together, we must use one cutting board for some and another for the rest. And we will do the same with the knives. For example, if we are going to cook chicken, which may be contaminated with Salmonellaand we put it on the same plate with tomatoes, it is possible that they end up being contaminated with the same bacteria (this is what we know as cross contamination).
If we cut this raw chicken and then the tomatoes with the same knife, without having cleaned it first, the risk of contamination is high. If we do not have a utensil for each food, we must wash them between two uses.
Wash the vegetables well
If we want to prepare a dish that is a little lighter than the others, such as a salad, it is important that we remember to clean the leaves and aromatic herbs first to eliminate possible traces of pesticides, soil and microorganisms.
Allow enough time to defrost
Defrosting requires patience, whether it is fish or meat, it has to be done gently. If we have frozen food in advance and we have to prepare it, it is important that there are no frozen areas in a food such as chicken; Otherwise, the meat will most likely not cook evenly, increasing the risk of pathogenic bacteria surviving the cooking process.
It is important, therefore, that we calculate in advance how long it will take for the food in question to defrost in the refrigerator. Although freezing temperatures of -18°C stop bacterial multiplication, most germs will survive, so defrosting in the refrigerator helps us avoid the multiplication of germs. At room temperature, however, they will only need 20 minutes to multiply.
Pay attention to products such as fish and seafood
Seafood and fish are very perishable foods, as are meat, eggs and dairy products when we do not consume them immediately after preparation. In this sense, and extending the advice to other preparations, it is advisable to prepare the food at the moment because, if we do it many hours in advance and we cannot keep it at the appropriate temperature, the risk of proliferation of microorganisms increases.
When we talk about seafood, there are two key food safety rules: wash your hands and surfaces well before and after handling it and follow the 2/4 hour rule, that is, do not leave it at room temperature for more than two hours.
Preparations such as mayonnaise and other sauces also deserve special mention. It is important to remember that leftovers should not be stored in the refrigerator for more than 48 or 72 hours, nor should they be reheated more than once.
Get the perfect cooking
Cooking time plays a decisive role in the proliferation of bacteria. At this point we must be especially cautious with food fillers, a mixture of raw and cooked and cut products that becomes an excellent medium for bacterial growth. These types of preparations require very specific cooking conditions: subjecting the interior of the filling to a minimum temperature of 75°C.
In general, sufficient cooking of about 75°C is sufficient to destroy possible bacteria. But if we are going to use the oven to cook a recipe such as a turkey, the cooking time should be 45 minutes per kilo at 165°C.
Do not leave cooked food at room temperature for more than two hours
After a big holiday meal, managing leftovers safely is just as important as the preparation itself. Since we will most likely extend the after-dinner meal for hours, the best thing before prolonging this moment for more than two hours is to get up and collect the remains of food that have been left on the table and refrigerate them or, if we prefer, freeze them, as long as they do not They were already frozen before.
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