Tackle Food Safety: Keep Your Food Safe on Game Day

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The best host wants to make sure that foodborne illness is not invited to the party, so the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reminds you to pull out the food safety playbook and follow these simple steps: 

• CLEAN and wash kitchen surfaces, utensils, and hands before preparing or serving food and wash all produce including produce you plan to peel, such as avocados.
• SEPARATE raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs from cooked foods and ready-to-eat foods, like fruits and vegetables.
• COOK meat and poultry to the right temperature by using a food thermometer.
• CHILL cooked and prepared foods if you do not plan to consume them immediately. 
• FOR SERVING, keep cold foods chilled to 40 °F or below and hot foods heated to 140 °F or above. 
  • Instead of using large serving bowls, serve chili, guacamole, salsa, and dips in smaller containers, and offer serving spoons and small plates to reduce the opportunity for guests to eat directly from the bowls. 
  • Make several small containers in advance and keep them chilled in the refrigerator or hot in the oven (set at 200-250 °F) until serving time. Replace the serving bowls with fresh ones throughout the party.
  • Discard any perishable food left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours and have replacements ready at half time.

Make food safety a priority on game day!

Contact: Media: 1-301-796-4540  Consumers: 1-888-SAFEFOOD (toll free)

SOURCE U.S. Food and Drug Administration