TAMPA, Fla. — Thanksgiving is a holiday centered around family, friends, and great food.
So, to ensure everyone stays healthy this holiday weekend, ABC Action News spoke with the Chief Medical Officer at AdventHealth Tampa about tips we can all follow while preparing our holiday meals.
Dr. Doug Ross said when serving food, remember the two-hour rule. Don’t leave perishable food out for more than two hours.
Also, leftovers should only be kept in the fridge for three or four days. After that, they should be tossed out.
“If you can anticipate when you have leftovers, you can anticipate what you're going to use within the next three or four days, that's best. The rest should be frozen. The frozen can last for several months,” said Dr. Ross, Chief Medical Officer, AdventHealth Tampa.
He continued “When you're storing your food, it's better to not have it in these big pans if you've created before, but have it in more shallow containers, so that the cooling happens faster and that you're protecting that food.”
ABC Action News also asked Dr. Ross about the main reason people end up in the emergency room around the Thanksgiving holiday.
“I would say three things, food poisoning being number one. People just not washing their hands and bacteria getting into your body, sharp objects causing lacerations and then burns,” explained Dr. Ross.
He said anyone cooking needs to be really disciplined about washing their hands, especially when working between cold, unprepared foods and prepared foods. If you don’t, you could unknowingly spread bacteria from the poultry to another food and end up getting people sick.
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