Serve
Safe Food this Holiday
For
safe cooking and handling of
food—know that bacteria multiply rapidly between 40°F and 140°F,
doubling in
number in as little as 20 minutes.
To
keep food out of this danger zone, keep
cold food cold and hot food hot. Keep food cold in the
refrigerator, in
coolers, or on the service line on ice.
Set
your refrigerator no higher than 40°F and the freezer at 0°F. Cold
foods
Salads, dips deviled eggs … must be below 40°F.
Keep
food hot in the oven, in heated chafing dishes, or in pre-heated steam
tables,
warming trays, and/or slow cookers. Hot foods temperatures must be
above 140°F.
Use
a clean thermometer that measures the internal temperature of cooked
food to
make sure meats, poultry, and casseroles are cooked to the temperatures
as
indicated in the figure.
