Exactly one year ago today, I was invited to the National Press Club to talk about holiday food safety. I am delighted to be invited back again today. Clearly, there is no better time to talk turkey about food safety than right before the holidays.
Holidays are a fun time, a family time, with a family feast frequently being the major event.
However, if our holiday chefs forget the basics of safe food handling, your family feast could become a family disaster. While no one invites Salmonella or Campylobacter home for the holidays, consumers must expect these unwelcome guests every time they bring home a turkey. If precautions aren't taken, families could find themselves sharing the misery of food poisoning instead of gathering around the fireplace or the piano. Food poisoning can have particularly severe consequences for the youngest and the oldest members of the family. The most complete government survey ever done of turkeys, published by the US Department of Agriculture in August, found that 90 percent of the turkeys tested in 1996 and 1997 were contaminated with Campylobacter .