The Most Dangerous Meal

Thanksgiving dinner--the nation’s most celebrated meal--is a potential food safety disaster. There are probably more cases of food poisoning on this day than at any other time of the year.

The chief culprit is the Thanksgiving centerpiece: turkey. Despite this bird’s long history as the holiday’s focus, Americans remain intimidated by the particular requirements for handling turkey. To make matters worse, poor preparation methods and inadequate cooking habits have been passed from one generation to the next, some so dangerous that they can result in illness.

The federal government is so concerned about these potential problems that it has published a 24-page booklet on various holiday precautions. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also operates a toll-free telephone service--the Meat and Poultry Hotline--to answer consumers’ questions.

Special care needs to be taken in preparing, cooking and serving the Thanksgiving meal. According to the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, nearly one in five people at the dinner table could be classified as being a high-risk individual, or susceptible to food-borne bacteria. Infants, the elderly, pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems such as cancer or AIDS patients are of particular concern.

The USDA offers several iron-clad rules for preparing Thanksgiving dinner. They are:

* Refrigerate the turkey on a large platter so that raw juices from the uncooked bird do not drip on, and contaminate, other foods.

* Wash hands, utensils, countertops, cutting board and sink that have come in contact with the raw turkey with soap and hot water to prevent the spread of bacteria.

* Do not defrost frozen turkey at room temperature. (Bacteria grow rapidly at room temperature. Instead, plan on one day of refrigerator defrost for every five pounds of turkey meat. Of course, you can avoid the problem of defrosting a turkey altogether by purchasing a fresh bird.)

* Do not stuff a turkey the night before Thanksgiving. (The cavity of the bird actually insulates the stuffing from refrigerated temperatures and could encourage bacterial growth. Stuff the bird immediately before the turkey goes into the oven. And stuff the bird loosely.)

* Do not cook a turkey overnight. (Some people have reported to the USDA hot line that they traditionally cook the bird at low oven temperatures the night before so that the turkey is “done” the next morning. This is an extremely dangerous practice. Cooking below 325 degrees is unsafe. At low temperatures, such as 140 degrees, bacteria can grow and actually become heat-resistant.)

* Do not partially cook a turkey the day before and then finish the bird on Thanksgiving. (Interrupted cooking can increase the possibility of bacterial growth to potentially infectious levels. Cook the turkey in a single, complete operation. You can hasten the baking process by the use of commercial oven cooking bags or by baking the stuffing separately.)

* Do not refrigerate a whole, cooked turkey. (Some people cook the turkey a day or two ahead of time and then refrigerate it for carving on Thanksgiving.) Instead, roast the turkey according to directions, remove the stuffing immediately after taking the bird from the oven and allow the turkey to stand for 20 to 30 minutes. Then carve the bird into appropriate serving slices. Arrange the meat in a shallow baking pan, cover and refrigerate. Reheat before serving, making sure the meat and stuffing are reheated to approximately 165 degrees or “steaming hot.”)

* Follow the two-hour rule. According to USDA, two hours after you pull the cooked bird out of the oven it should be carved and back in the refrigerator. To speed cooling and limit bacterial growth, cut the meat from the bone, remove the stuffing and store both in small, shallow containers. Although people traditionally snack on the roasted turkey well after the meal, this could prove dangerous. While a cooked turkey is sitting at room temperature, bacteria that may be present are multiplying at the rate of 100% every 20 minutes.

* Do not use paper grocery bags to cover the turkey in the oven. Toxins from the glue in the seams could cause illness.

* Do not consume raw eggs. Use only commercially pasteurized eggnog or make your own eggnog with a cooked custard base.

The USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline is accessible during November between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. On Thanksgiving Day, the service will be offered between 5 a.m. and 11 a.m. PST. The toll-free hot-line number is (800) 535-4555.