When it comes to cooking Christmas dinner, it may already seem like you’ve got a lot on your plate. However, even more important than timing the vegetables, remembering the condiments and making sure the turkey stays moist, is making sure you don’t poison your family this Christmas! Although this may sound like an overly severe warning, don’t forget that, like chicken, turkey is poultry and therefore home to many harmful bacteria.

The Food Standards Agency has released TV and radio adverts, raising awareness of three important points to bear in mind when cooking your turkey. These points are as follows:

1) Don’t wash your turkey unless absolutely necessary. The harmful bacteria that live on all meat, especially poultry, can easily be spread all around the kitchen by tiny splashes of water. This makes it very easy to accidently contaminate other foods and utensils without even realising!

2) Defrost the turkey thoroughly before cooking. Things may be rushed and timing may be of the essence, but a partially defrosted turkey is a dangerous thing to put in the oven. Granted it’s not likely to explode, but frozen ice crystals inside the bird will mean that parts of the turkey will not cook properly – putting you in grave danger of being out of line with the third commandment…

3) Cook your turkey properly and until piping hot. It’s the cooking process that kills the harmful bacteria in all food, so this is the most important part of all. To test whether a turkey is thoroughly cooked, cut through the thickest part and check the juices run clear and none of the meat is still pink.

With all that food hygiene advice in mind, have a very safe Christmas! Also, check back on the Food Hygiene blog for advice for staying safe in the days after Christmas.

Preparing Christmas dinner for the whole family is never an easy task. In fact, studies show that thousands of people get ill with stress every year, because they’re that worried about Christmas dinner! Here at the Food Hygiene Blog, all we’re concerned about is your safety, so here are some tips for staying safe this Christmas.

Don’t overcompensate; although it may feel like you’re feeding an army – you’re not (I expect). Although more may feel safer than less, the fact is that cramming too much food into the fridge will probably mean that none of it will be kept cold enough. Also bear in mind that smaller turkeys are much easier to prepare and cook than big turkeys; buy enough for your family, but don’t go crazy! If you have a large family, consider two smaller birds rather than one huge one! When storing all the food away, remember to keep raw meat separate from every other food – preferably in a separate container at the bottom of the fridge, so it can’t drip on other food!

If you’re planning a buffet for Boxing Day, don’t put everything out at once. Keep things in the fridge for most the day, then bring them out in small amounts for people to eat. Once the food on the table is gone, replace it with food fresh from the fridge, or the oven. Not only will it taste better, it’ll be much safer too. If you’re reheating turkey from the night before, make certain it’s piping hot the whole way through before you serve it – don’t reheat it more than once either!