Food Safety Tips for the Holidays

With the holiday season upon us, Nova Scotians are urged to remember the importance of safe food preparation and handling.

The Department of Agriculture's food safety division reminds people that four basic rules apply to help prevent foodborne illness over the holidays: clean, separate, cook and chill.

"As Nova Scotians enjoy the holidays with family and friends, we encourage them to be aware of the safety issues around storing, handling and preparing food for these events," said Mike Horwich, director, food protection. "The best advice for everyone is to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold, and if in doubt, throw it out."

Good food-safety practices are important when preparing, transporting and re-heating food for parties and potlucks.

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

They include tips on:

• preparing and serving holiday buffets
• travelling with food;
• 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, and
• how to buy, thaw and cook a turkey and store leftovers.