The holiday season will be here before we know it, which means preparing for yummy feasting, the gathering of friends and family and shopping for all the food. Turkeys, hams, homemade salads and fruity desserts are all waiting to be whipped up and consumed.
But along with popularity of preparing holiday food at home comes the threat of food illnesses. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 200 known diseases are transmitted through food, and foodborne diseases are estimated to cause up to 9,000 deaths each year in the United States.
"Food safety is everyone's responsibility, particularly when preparing and serving holiday delectables," says Dr. Roger Clemens, a spokesman for the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), a nonprofit scientific society comprised of food scientists. "Practicing safe food-handling habits during the holidays and everyday ensures a healthier celebration."
To prevent foodborne diseases from ruining your Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays, keep in mind the following tips from the IFT:
"These simple food safety steps, clean-separate-cook-chill, will assure that you and your guests have an enjoyable and memorable holiday," Clemens says.
In this podcast, we discuss food safety culture, including how food safety culture is established, measured, and how they are expected to change in light of ongoing advancements in food science and policy. Our guests include Hugo Gutierrez, Global Food Safety and Quality Officer for Kerry, and Bob Gravani, Professor Emeritus of Food Science and Director Emeritus of the National Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) Program at Cornell University.
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