How to Stay Holly & Jolly this Holiday Season

Its December…Welcome to the hustle and bustle of the holidays!  While it may be the ‘Most Wonderful Time of the Year’, it can also be the busiest and most stressful.  Our to-do lists for gift shopping and wrapping, card sending, decorating and cooking are never ending. Sometimes safety falls to the bottom of our list in our efforts to make everything shiny and bright. So here are some tips for keeping our lives holly and jolly this time of year!

Holiday Decorations:

• Trimming the tree should always be a fun family occasion - just make sure you hang your breakable/glass ornaments at the top of the tree and leave lots of room at the bottom for your children to decorate with their favorite, non-breakable ornaments!

• Poinsettias and mistletoe can be beautiful additions to your holiday home décor, but they can also be dangerous to pets and children. So make sure to keep those pretty plants out of reach from little hands and paws!

Preventing Fires:

• Make sure your Christmas tree and other decorative lights are only plugged in when you are home and awake. As tempting as it is to leave all your indoor lights on when you’re not home or while you’re sleeping, the risk of fire is not worth it.

• If you have a real tree, check the water daily so it stays healthy and doesn’t dry out, which can spark fires with your lights.

• Keep your candles a safe distance away from your tree, walls and out of the reach of children. Always blow them out before you go to sleep or leave the house.

Present Time:

• There are so many choices when it comes to gifts for the children in our lives. When choosing toys for infants or small children avoid those that have small or removable pieces or strings that could become a choking hazard (especially in the chaos of Christmas Morning)!  

• Be aware of small, coin-sized lithium batteries that may come with older children’s toys and don’t let them end up in the hands or mouths of younger children!

Most importantly…enjoy this time of year! Make sure you’re taking time to slow down and think through what you are doing. Keep a to-do list on hand to help keep track of where you are in the holiday hustle, remember to smile and to always try to pass on a little holiday cheer wherever you go!😀

Happy Holidays,

Jessica Mathews

Children’s Services Program Specialist

Health Care Services Division

Turkey, pie, stuffing, oh my!

Is everyone ready for cookies, pie, turkey, ham and stuffing? I know I am! My mouth is watering just thinking about all of my holiday favorites! What are some of yours?  It is such a magical time of year filled with laughter and creating memories with friends and loved ones, but uninvited guests can quickly ruin your plans. As we move into the holiday season it is important to keep food safety tips in mind to protect ourselves and loved ones from foodborne illness. Wouldn’t we all prefer to look back fondly with memories such as “Remember when Billy finally beat Uncle John at Monopoly last Thanksgiving?” instead of “Remember when we were all sick for days after Thanksgiving last year?”.

As you begin to plan your delicious menus keep in mind these 4 simple tips: 

1.   Wash your hands

This is important all year round, especially when preparing foods! Our hands carry a lot of germs that can contaminate the food that we touch and then serve to others. Wash your hands before you begin preparing food and every time they become dirty or after you have handled raw meat, poultry, fish, or eggs.  Even if you are not sick you can still contaminate food with other germs. Speaking of sick - keep anyone who has been or is sick out of the kitchen! 

2. Avoid cross contamination

When preparing foods in your kitchen, be sure to keep “hazardous” foods (raw meat, poultry, fish and eggs) separate from the other “non-hazardous” foods in the kitchen (fresh fruits and vegetables, desserts, cheese, breads, anything “ready-to-eat”). “Hazardous” foods can carry pathogens that cause the classic food poisoning symptoms. To prevent contamination be sure to thoroughly wash and sanitize any utensils, knives, counter tops, cutting boards or equipment that have come into contact with “hazardous” foods and their juices before working with the “non-hazardous” foods. 

3.   Cook “hazardous” foods THOROUGHLY

In order to make the “hazardous” foods safe to eat we must kill the pathogens they might be carrying. Many pathogens found in our foods can be killed simply with thorough cooking. One of the best investments you can make in your kitchen is to purchase a food probe thermometer. This will take the guess work out of cooking. When cooking “hazardous” foods make sure that the INTERNAL temperature reaches:

•  165°F - Poultry, stuffed meats and stuffing containing meat
• 158°F – Ground Meats (beef, pork, veal, etc) 
•  150°F – Pork and foods containing pork 
• 145°F – Eggs and egg products 
• 140°F – All other potentially hazardous foods 
• 130°F – Rare roast beef and/or rare beef steaks

4.   Be Mindful of Leftovers

Refrigerate or freeze left overs within 2 hours of serving. This will help prevent the growth of new pathogens. Can you guess their favorite temperature for growth? You guessed it - room temperature or about 70°F.

We don’t have time to be sick during the holidays. By following these simple tips we can spend our time enjoying the festivities and each other’s company…and all that pie! Bon appetite!

Amanda Finckel

Public Health Sanitarian

Environmental Health & Safety Division