It's that time of year again.
The stockings are being hung by the chimney with care, and the tantalizing smell of Christmas turkeys basting in the oven will soon permeate the air.
But before those big birds are carved up, Neelam Parmar is offering a few words of caution to everyone who plans on preparing dinner over the festive season. As an environmental health officer for Northern Health, she just wants to keep people from getting sick from food poisoning.
"People think they can just eyeball a turkey to know if it's done, you really don't know until you've actually probed it [with a meat thermometer] to see that it's reached a minimal internal temperature," said Parmar.
"Health Canada likes to see the turkey reach an internal temperature of at least 85 C. So that's sticking the thermometer in the deepest part of the meat and making sure you get to 85 C."
Parmar said it's not advisable to determine cooking time by the weight of the turkey because the power of people's ovens varies.
Avoiding cross-contamination of surfaces is critical. Uncooked meat which has been sitting on a countertop or that drips onto a plate or other surface can leave behind enough bacteria to contaminate other food that can make you sick.
"That's another really common practice that causes food poisoning," said Parmar. "People let the raw meat juices drip onto something and don't even realize it."
Ideally, a frozen turkey should be thawed out in the fridge or under cold running water. Leaving it to thaw at room temperature on the counter can cause bacteria to grown on the turkey that might not be killed, even in a hot oven.
If you choose to stuff the turkey with uncooked stuffing mix, Parmar suggests stuffing it loosely in the cavity of the bird and removing it right after cooking. A safer method, she says, is to cook the stuffing separately in the oven in its own dish or on the stove top.
And don't forget to put away the leftovers promptly.
"If you refrigerate the leftovers, usually within two hours, that will help minimize the chance of bacteria growing," said Parmar. "Cut up the turkey and cool the leftovers in shallow containers and refrigerate once the steaming stops. You don't want them sitting out all day. You don't want to leave anything out for four or six hours.
"If you reheat leftovers, we recommend things be reheated just once, because you don't want them put through the danger zone [of heating and cooling] too many times. It just increases the chances of bacterial growth."
Turkey contains a natural sedative called triptophan, which makes people sleepy, and as long its well-cooked and prepared safely, that's the only side effect Parmar envisions for people who get their fill at the Christmas dinner table. But if you are suffering from fever, headaches, abdominal cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea, those symptoms could be signs of food poisoning. Salmonella bacteria thrive in uncooked poultry products.
"Salmonella is the most common one associated with turkey and it's largely underreported," said Parmar. "People might think they have the 24-hour stomach flu but it could be food poisoning and we want to see that reported. A large portion of food-borne illness happen in the home environment."
The way to determine food poisoning is through a stool sample and Parmar said that deters people from reporting it to medical authorities.
"Something like salmonella can start 12 hours, a day or three days later when you start to feel the symptoms -- it's a nasty one that usually lasts upwards of a week," said Parmar. "It's a doctor's call whether to let it pass through your system naturally or if they will prescribe antibiotics."
