Ready or not, the holidays are here. It’s a time when many Americans accustomed to preparing simple meals find themselves responsible for safely serving multi-dish feasts.

It’s no easy task. Outbreaks of some types of food poisoning tend to rise in November and December, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tainted turkey, undercooked stuffing and germ-laced gravy from holiday buffets have all led to past illnesses — and even deaths — CDC investigators have found.

It can be tricky for occasional cooks to prepare big meals in a way that avoids the common hazards that can make people sick, said Donald Schaffner, a food science expert at Rutgers University.

“Cooking takes longer with big masses of food. Cooling takes longer with big masses of food,” said Schaffner, who co-hosts the food-safety podcast “Risky or Not?”

Together with podcast co-host Benjamin Chapman, a food scientist at North Carolina State University, Schaffner outlined common ways to keep holiday meals both festive and safe.

Prepare the turkey

Nearly 90% of U.S. hosts plan to serve turkey on Thanksgiving this year, according to the turkey producer Butterball.

But raw turkey can harbor illness-causing bacteria such as salmonella, campylobacter and other germs. It must be handled safely to prevent those bugs from contaminating refrigerator surfaces, sinks and kitchen counters.

A frozen bird must be thawed first. There are several accepted methods, including in the refrigerator, in the microwave or in cold running water, Schaffner said.

“All of these methods pose risks,” he cautioned.

A frozen turkey needs about 24 hours for every 4 to 5 pounds of weight to thaw in a refrigerator, according to the Agriculture Department. If you use a microwave or the cold water method, the bird must be cooked immediately. For details about safe turkey handling, check out the thawing and cooking calculators created by the USDA.

And don’t wash the turkey. It’s a bad idea to rinse it in the sink, even though many cooks still insist on the practice, often out of habit, said Chapman.

“Anything that hits that surface and generates spray is going to basically spread contamination around your kitchen,” he said.

Instead, pat the turkey dry with paper towels and toss them, or use a kitchen towel and disinfect it in the laundry.

What about roasting?

Turkey needs to reach a cooked temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit before serving. The best way to tell if it’s cooked is to use a tip-sensitive digital thermometer inserted in the innermost section of the thigh, not touching the bone.

Don’t rely on the plastic pop-up thermometers stuck in some commercial turkeys. Chapman’s past research shows that those buttons can activate well before the bird is actually done.

At the same time, don’t determine doneness by relying on signs such as golden-brown skin, whether the meat is no longer pink or whether the juices run clear.

“None of those are great indicators of temperature,” Chapman said.

Side dishes and leftovers

How you handle the rest of the meal — mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans or yams — is just as important as the main dish. It’s crucial to avoid the so-called danger zone of temperatures between 40 degrees and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, where bacteria can easily grow.

The key is to keep hot foods piping hot and cold foods cold — and to refrigerate everything promptly, Schaffner said.

“The recommendation is that you get those leftovers into the refrigerator within two hours of when they came off of the stove,” he said.

Make sure to refrigerate dense foods like sliced turkey, cooked sweet potatoes or gravy in shallow containers to help them cool down fast. Schaffner’s recent research showed that foods cooled in containers at a depth of no more than 2 inches posed little risk of growing dangerous germs.

Keep it clean

One key way to avoid food poisoning is through scrupulous cleaning in the kitchen.

Wash your hands before preparing food and after touching raw poultry. Use separate cutting boards, knives and other utensils when handling raw meat and fresh foods such as vegetables and salads.

Pay close attention to any surface that may be contaminated. It’s important to clean first with soap and water and then sanitize with a disinfectant — a two-step process.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Uruguay ousted its conservative government that had been in charge for the past five years, as leftist opposition candidate Yamandú Orsi claimed victory in a tight presidential runoff Sunday.

Even as the vote count continued, Álvaro Delgado, the presidential candidate of the center-right ruling coalition, conceded defeat to his challenger.

“With sadness, but without guilt, we can congratulate the winner,” he told supporters at his campaign headquarters in the capital of Montevideo. 

Orsi, 57, a working-class former history teacher and two-time mayor from Uruguay’s Broad Front coalition, was mentored by former President José “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-Marxist guerilla who became world renowned for driving Uruguay’s legalization of abortion, same-sex marriage and sale of marijuana a decade ago. Orsi thanked his supporters as crowds flocked to greet him.

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“The country of liberty, equality and fraternity has triumphed once again,” he said, vowing to unite the nation of 3.4 million people after such a tight vote.

“Let’s understand that there is another part of our country who have different feelings today,” he said. “These people will also have to help build a better country. We need them too.”

“I will be the president who calls for national dialogue again and again, who builds a more integrated society and country,” Orsi said.

“Starting tomorrow, I’ll have to work very hard, there’s a lot to do,” he told the Associated Press from the glass-walled NH Columbia hotel, thronged friends and colleagues embracing and congratulating him.

With nearly all the votes counted, electoral officials reported that Orsi won just over 49% of the vote, ahead of Delgado’s 46%. The rest cast blank votes or abstained in defiance of Uruguay’s enforced compulsory voting. Turnout reached almost 90%.

After weeks in which the rivals appeared tied in the polls, Delgado’s concession ushers in Orsi as Uruguay’s new leader and cuts short the center-right Republican coalition’s shot at governing. 

Alvaro Delgado, presidential candidate for the ruling National Party, concedes defeat in Montevideo, Uruguay, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024.  (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)

The 2019 election of President Luis Lacalle Pou spelled an end to 15 consecutive years of rule by the Broad Front.

“I called Yamandú Orsi to congratulate him as President-elect of our country,” Lacalle Pou wrote on social media platform X, adding that he would “put myself at his service and begin the transition as soon as I deem it appropriate.”

Orsi’s victory made the South American country the latest to rebuke the incumbent party in the wake of post-pandemic economic malaise.

The win contrasts with that of populist Javier Milei, who won the presidency in Argentina in 2023 by promising to overhaul the establishment to deal with soaring inflation and poverty. Milei reportedly has grown close to President-elect Trump. 

Orsi has been described as a moderate with no radical plans for change. He largely agrees with his opponent on key voter concerns like driving down the childhood poverty rate, now at a staggering 25%, and containing an upsurge in organized crime that has shaken the nation long considered among Latin America’s safest. 

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Despite Orsi’s promise to lead a “new left” in Uruguay, his platform resembles the mix of market-friendly policies and welfare programs that characterized the Broad Front’s tenure from 2005-2020.

Mujica, now 89 and recovering from esophageal cancer, turned up at his local polling station before balloting even began on Sunday to praise Orsi’s humility and Uruguay’s proud stability.

“This is no small feat,” he said of his nation’s “citizenry that respects formal institutions.”

With inflation easing, and the economy expected to expand by some 3.2% this year, Delgado had promised to continue pursuing his predecessor’s pro-business policies. 

Supporters of the Broad Front (Frente Amplio) celebrate the victory of candidate Yamandú Orsi in Montevideo, Uruguay, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024.  (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)

Lacalle Pou, who constitutionally cannot run for a second consecutive term, has enjoyed high approval ratings. But the official results trickling in on Sunday showed that mounting complaints in Uruguay about years of sluggish economic growth, stagnant wages and the government’s struggle to contain crime after five years helped swing the election against Delgado.

Specific proposals by Orsi include tax incentives to lure investment and revitalize the critical agricultural sector, as well as social security reforms that would lower the retirement age but fall short of a radical overhaul sought by Uruguay’s unions that failed to pass in the Oct. 27 general election during which neither front-runner secured an outright majority. 

He is also likely to put an end to a trade agreement with China that Lacalle Pou had pursued to the chagrin of Mercosur, an alliance of South American nations promoting regional commerce.

His government will take office on March 1, 2025.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Olaf Scholz has been officially nominated by his Social Democratic Party (SPD) as its candidate for German chancellor in snap elections set for 23 February.

The incumbent chancellor’s nomination comes after weeks of tense discussions within the centre-left party over whether he was the right person for the job.

Some members of his party rallied around Defence Minister Boris Pistorius — who enjoys higher approval ratings — as a replacement for Scholz.

On Thursday, Pistorius said he was not “available” to run for chancellor, paving the way for Scholz to be at the top of the party’s ballot.

The SPD’s executive committee officially nominated Scholz on Monday, with Pistorius one of the 33 senior members of the party with the right to vote on the matter.

According to a recent poll by public broadcaster ZDF last week, only 37% of respondents thought Scholz was doing a good job in his current role as chancellor.

A separate survey showed a large majority (78%) thought the SPD would achieve a better result in February’s upcoming election with Pistorius as the candidate for chancellor. Only 11% said they thought the SPD would achieve victory in the election under Scholz.

Internal wrangling

At a meeting of SPD’s official youth branch this weekend, the party’s top was accused of leading the party to a disaster.

Two weeks of internal discussions over who should be the candidate have left their mark, according to younger members of the party.

One of the party’s leaders, Saskia Esken, said at a press conference that the party wasn’t portraying “a good picture in the nomination of our chancellor candidate.”

Scholz’s ruling “streetlight” coalition, which was comprised of the SPD, the Greens, and the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), collapsed earlier this month in public fashion after Scholz fired his Finance Minister Christian Lindner, who hails from the liberal centrist FDP.

Lacking a parliamentary majority, Scholz agreed to hold a no-confidence vote on 16 December, with general elections set for 23 February 2025.

Currently, the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is leading in the polls with 32%. They have chosen Friedrich Merz as their candidate for chancellor.

The environmentalist Greens party picked Robert Habeck as their top choice, while the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) named Alice Weidel, which was the first time the party had nominated an official chancellor candidate.