Food Safety Tips for the Holidays

With the holiday season fast approaching, the Department of Agricuture's food safety division reminds consumers about the importance of safe food handling.

To help prevent foodborne illness over the holidays four basic rules apply: clean; separate; cook; and chill.

"Whether you are an experienced chef or a novice in the kitchen, you need to be aware of safety issues when storing, handling and preparing food for family and guests," said Mike Horwich, director of food protection. "If you remember this bit of advice: 'keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold, and when in doubt, throw it out,' it will help ward off foodborne illness."

Food-safety experts with the Department of Agriculture are reminding Nova Scotians to use good food-safety practices when preparing, transporting and re-heating food for parties and potlucks.

The Department of Agriculture has several fact sheets on food safety at its website at www.gov.ns.ca/agri/foodsafety/factsht .

They include key tips on:

• preparing and serving holiday buffets
• travelling with food, keeping hot foods hot and cold foods cold
• how to prepare and store special holiday foods, such as egg nog and apple cider
• ordering and serving take-out foods, such as meat trays
• saving and re-serving leftovers
• how to buy, thaw and cook a turkey and store leftovers