Don’t Invite Foodborne Illnesses to the Holiday Table

Share vacation meals with family members, associates, and neighbors, however don’t invite foodborne diseases to the desk. That’s why your West Central Florida County Well being Departments serving Citrus, Hardee, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, and Sarasota counties wish to guarantee your vacation feast is one to recollect for all the fitting causes.

Foodborne diseases may cause extreme signs and result in hospitalizations or, in excessive instances, even show deadly. Annually, about 3,000 Individuals die as a result of improperly ready or saved meals. Signs could occur inside minutes and should embrace nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or fever.

Infants, kids, pregnant ladies, older adults, and other people with compromised immune programs are at better danger for these diseases, however anybody who eats improperly dealt with meals is doubtlessly weak.

The Florida Division of Well being urges everybody to follow meals security as a part of its public well being mission, and the message is well timed now as planning for vacation meals in November and December takes place. Microorganisms may cause ailments that smash vacation gatherings; protected cooking and storage practices can forestall them.

Use these tricks to maintain your holidays completely satisfied and wholesome for all:

• Wash fingers, utensils, and surfaces often, particularly after dealing with uncooked meals.
• Don’t thaw the vacation chook on the counter. Use the fridge or below chilly working water to make sure that the turkey is totally thawed earlier than cooking.
• Set up separate dealing with areas within the kitchen for cooked and uncooked meals to make sure they don’t come into contact, which might enable for cross contamination.
• Cook dinner meals to correct inside temperatures. A meals thermometer is a great funding and a necessary piece of kitchen tools.
• The soiled dishes can wait, however the leftovers can’t. Refrigerate or freeze all perishables inside two hours, even if you wish to enable individuals to proceed snacking.

Name the U.S. Division of Agriculture’s Meat and Poultry Hotline, 1-888-MPHotline (888-674- 6854) for extra details about protected practices. USDA has extra data on foodborne diseases on its web site right here, Have A Meals-Protected Vacation Season | USDA. For extra data, please name your native Florida Division of Well being workplace:

DOH-Citrus (352) 527-0068

DOH-Manatee (941) 748-0747

DOH-Hardee (863) 773-4161

DOH-Pasco (727) 619-0300

DOH-Hernando (352) 540-6800

DOH-Pinellas (727) 824-6900

DOH-Highlands (863) 386-6040

DOH-Polk (863) 519-7900

DOH-Hillsborough (813) 307-8000

DOH-Sarasota (941) 861-2900

Right here’s hoping for a protected, completely satisfied, and wholesome vacation season out of your West Central Florida Division of Well being workplaces.

Concerning the Florida Division of Well being, The Division, nationally accredited by the Public Well being Accreditation Board, works to guard, promote, and enhance the well being of all individuals in Florida by built-in state, county, and group efforts.

Comply with us on Fb, Instagram, and Twitter at @HealthyFla. For extra details about the Florida Division of Well being please go to www.FloridaHealth.gov.