Thanksgiving is a time for friends, family, and of course, food. But the cooking-centric holiday is also a time for a lot of mishaps in the kitchen. Some cooking mistakes have more dire consequences than others — a dry turkey may taste like cardboard, but an undercooked one may sicken your guests with food poisoning.
Foodborne illness is caused by eating or drinking something contaminated with disease-causing germs such as bacteria, viruses or parasites, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The top foodborne pathogens in the U.S. are salmonella, norovirus, clostridium perfringens, campylobacter, and staphylococcus aureus, per the CDC. These can contaminate many foods, including Thanksgiving favorites like turkey, especially if food isn’t handled or cooked properly, TODAY.com previously reported.
The symptoms of food poisoning — upset stomach, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting — typically resolve on their own within a few days, but they can become severe or deadly. Children under 5, adults over 65, people with weakened immune systems and pregnant women are at the highest risk, per the CDC.
It’s important that everyone, from first-time cooks to experienced chefs, take steps to prevent foodborne illness and keep guests safe. Here are the most common food safety mistakes people make while cooking for Thanksgiving and how to avoid them.
Not washing your hands well or often enough
Washing your hands before, during, and after cooking is an essential food safety practice, not only during Thanksgiving but any other time you’re preparing food for others.
“Cleaning our hands for a full 20 seconds with soap and water can really go a long way in cutting down the amount of bacteria on our hands before we start preparation,” Robert Gravani, professor emeritus of food science at Cornell University, tells TODAY.com.
Pathogens from our unwashed hands can be introduced into food, Gravani says, where they can grow and multiply.
Frequent hand-washing…
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