Holiday reminders: Don’t let that holiday turkey knock you out   

We hear the scary stories of people becoming ill from restaurants mishandling or under-cooking food.  However, the home is the primary location of food-borne illnesses in the United States.

With the Holidays coming up, Turkey and Chicken will be on many of our plates.  In order to get all of the joy the season can bring here are a few, maybe unknown, tips to keep us from feeling miserable rather than cheerful.

Do NOT wash or rinse your poultry before cooking it.  Usually, washing the poultry means it’s touching more surfaces than it needs to, and the juices can splash up to two feet from its location.  Proper cooking will kill the bacteria.

Refrigerate it on the bottom shelf, and in a plastic bag or sealed container in case the original packaging leaks.

If you thaw the poultry in cold water, be sure to submerge it in water within a sealed container, change the water every 30 minutes, and cook it immediately after thawing.

Even if you’re just cooking small portions of Turkey/ chicken/ goose be sure to use your meat thermometer.  It should be cooked to 165 degrees to ensure that all bacteria has been killed.

Put it into a grocery bag BEFORE you put it in the shopping cart to ensure it doesn’t touch any of your other food.

When refrigerating your leftovers, put them into shallow sealed containers to ensure rapid cooling.

Use a separate cutting board for your poultry.

We, at Mid Iowa Chiropractic, wish you all Happy Holidays!

If you have any questions about this piece, or anything else Chiropractic or not, give us a call!