Avoid Food-Related Illness On Thanksgiving
November 5, 2009 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under food, holidays, safety
There are more than 200 known diseases that are transmitted through food. The CDC reports that in the U.S. alone that “Foodborne diseases have been estimated to cause 6 million to 81 million illnesses and up to 9,000 deaths each year.” Many illnesses caused by food are the result of poor food handling which is likely to happen around the holidays when people are cooking new dishes they’re unfamiliar with and especially because they’re cooking large turkeys.
Not only are foodborne illnesses serious from a medical standpoint, but they take time away from your family, and can create costly medical bills. This Thanksgiving, make sure your family plays it safe with the following resources…
- A Consumer Guide to Safely Roasting a Turkey
- If you have a specific turkey question you can call the Butterball Turkey Talk Line (1-800-BUTTERBALL) all throughout November and December.
- Countdown to the Thanksgiving Holiday – heavy on the safety aspects.
- Food safety for a successful community meal (pdf) – this guide focuses on transporting food safely, say to a relative’s home for the holidays, how to safely plan family meals like a potluck, and covers all sorts of other useful tips as well.
[image via stock.xchng]
I am surprised at how high those numbers are, however it does not surprise me that people do not take enough care with all of the food germs out there. Thanks for reminding all of us to take the utmost care this Thanksgiving.