The Perth District Health Unit has some tips for holiday food safety -- and it's summarized into four words; clean, separate, cook, chill.
Cleaning includes washing your hands and surfaces before preparing food. Separate raw foods from cooked and ready-to-eat foods. Cook food to a safe internal temperature. And chill by refrigerating food and lefovers.
Holiday buffets are popular and the health unit says its important to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold. Refrigerate leftovers as soon as possible and no more than two hours from the time the food was cooked.
For a turkey, the internal cooking temperature should reach 82 C or 180 F.
Some of the dangers in not following proper food preparation and cooking include food poisoning and salmonella.
The most common symptoms of food poisoning include stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and fever.
